Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios VisualsThe pandemic is getting worse, and the question is whether the economic recovery will go with it.Why it matters: America adding 7.5 million jobs over the last two months pales in comparison to 20+ million lost over the two months prior.Those new jobs were also overwhelmingly people returning to places where they had been temporarily laid off, Axios' Felix Salmon writes.The number of permanent job losers went up, not down, rising 25% in just one month to 2.8 million from 2.2 million.Between the lines: One nightmare scenario is that the economy recovers just quickly enough to kill political interest in economic stimulus, while not quickly enough to bring relief to the millions of Americans.The big jobs number could suck the wind out of a big stimulus package in the Senate, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.White House adviser Larry Kudlow hinted at that this morning, saying the beefed-up unemployment benefits may no longer be needed.Senate Majority Leader McConnell is still slow-walking, and even though Trump talked up big spending and direct payments in his Fox Business interview yesterday, watch Senate Republicans to see if there's any appetite for a big bill. The bottom line: America will likely struggle to recover economically until it manages to beat back the public health threat.The official overseeing the nation's coronavirus testing efforts told Congress on Thursday that the U.S. is "not flattening the curve right now."Go deeper: "Axios Re:Cap" dug into the jobs picture with the Washington Post's Catherine Rampell. Listen here.