President-elect Joe Biden on Friday called for trillions of dollars in immediate further fiscal support, including increased direct payments, in the wake of a continuing wallop to the economy from Covid-19 that saw U.S. payrolls drop for the first time since April. “The price tag will be high,” Biden said of his planned package in Wilmington, Delaware. He promised to lay out his proposals next Thursday, before taking office on Jan. 20. “It will be in the trillions of dollars.” Biden invoked images of the unemployed waiting in long food lines and added a dire warning: “If we don’t act now, things are going to get much worse and harder to get out of a hole later.” Biden made the call for new assistance -- including $2,000 stimulus checks -- after an unexpectedly poor December jobs report that reflected a plunge in restaurant employment. The 140,000 slump in payrolls highlighted how surging coronavirus infections are taking a greater toll on parts of the economy. While the Democrats are set to control both houses of Congress after Biden takes charge, private economists see any new stimulus package falling short of multiple trillions of dollars. The 50-50 partisan split in the Senate will make a more ambitious proposal challenging to pass, testing the new president’s sway over lawmakers from his party and his ability to influence Republicans. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake