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It’s no surprise that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread issues for the economy. Since March, millions of people have filed joblessness claims. Businesses have been forced to close their doors for months. Even though these economic impacts were expected, their impact has been longer-lasting than some economists thought. There was hope among economists that the job market would bounce back rapidly as lockdowns lifted.
However, this has not been the case. Rather than jump right back, joblessness has remained high. Numbers from the Labor Department showed some 1.87 million new joblessness claims last week. Thankfully, this was lower than the prior week, when there were 2.12 million new claims. However, economists have noted this means jobs are coming back more slowly than expected.
Many people who worked in restaurants, barber shops and other personal service establishments have been hit the hardest. White collar jobs have been largely unaffected by the pandemic. The ability to work from home has kept many desk jobs open for the duration of the pandemic. Personal service, however, can’t exactly be done through a computer.
As such, economists have noted that the economic impact of the pandemic is harsher for people who already make less money. Typically, people with no option to work from home make less than people in white collar jobs. This has resulted in a further widening of the distance between working poor and middle class America.
Continued joblessness claims over the last week are at 21.5 million. That’s a historic number, rivaling totals from the Great Depression. Roughly 15 percent of the workforce in the US is currently receiving some form of unemployment benefits.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had impacts outside the realm of economics, too. Most colleges are currently considering at least some form of distance learning for the Fall. Students throughout the Spring Semester were forced to pursue their online bachelor’s degree, instead of in-person. Colleges fear that another semester of strictly distance learning could be catastrophic for their bottom lines.
The pandemic has also caused the cancellation of most sporting events. This closes off another avenue that schools would normally use to shore up losses in tuition. Sports fans around the country have grown antsy in the absence of their favorite sports. Music fans, likewise, have no options for live music for the foreseeable future.
In short, the new normal is testing many Americans’ patience, and their finances. It’s easy to see why the general national mood is so anxious.
