Consumers continue to spend, stronger orders for durable goods is spurring production and housing activity is roaring ahead. But these bullish indicators are still riding the coat tails of the fiscal stimulus passed in the spring, and that fuel is quickly running out.

When the economy shut down in late March and threw a weekly record of 6.9 million workers into the ranks of the unemployed, most laid-off workers thought they would soon regain their jobs. That’s not the case now, as the duration of unemployment is lengthening and stoking widespread concerns that the job losses will become permanent.

The improving jobs data is consistent with other broad measures that depict a rebound in activity in recent months, as most parts of the economy reopened and consumers, armed with stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits, resumed purchases.

Chairman Powell warned that the resurgence in virus cases is already weighing on the recovery and urged Congress to provide more aid to sustain growth.

The $2.2 trillion stimulus from the CARES Act passed in March has clearly played a huge role in putting a floor under the economy’s knife-plunge in activity during the second quarter, filling an income gap that would have become a chasm for households as the pandemic vaporized more than 20 million paychecks in March and April.

Like the jobs report released two weeks ago, these stronger-than- expected reports confirm that the economy’s performance in the second quarter will not be as abysmal as thought a month or so ago.

The economy’s performance going forward will depend mightily on how serious the upsurge in cases becomes, how diligently states respond and how the public’s behavior is affected by the upsurge in infections.