"I think there is a desire to get something done as soon as we can," says Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. That's boilerplate stuff, but the tone is 180 degrees different than last week, when White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows left a meeting and said we're "nowhere close to a deal."

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin yesterday: "We made a little bit of progress."

Progress out of the meeting was good enough that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has put on hold for now a plan to force votes on short-term extensions for unemployment insurance. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her conference there's potential for a deal in coming days.

Meanwhile, the July jobs report comes on Friday, and a disappointing or even negative print is sure to add even more of an onus on lawmakers to be seen as doing something to help. As California goes, so goes the nation, and that state's economy has gone back into the tank thanks to another round of virus-related shutdowns.

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Signs of progress on stimulus deal as GOP/Democrats head into another meeting - Seeking Alpha