COVID-19

Women Account for 55 Percent of Coronavirus Job Losses

NickelsMcHughMcHugh
13 May 2020

Last month, 20.5 million people lost their jobs, sending the unemployment rate skyrocketing to 14.7 percent. Economists predict that the actual jobless rate could be even worse when factoring in people who are out of work but not collecting unemployment benefits. Experts also expect that things will only get worse in May as job cuts spread to white-collar workers. “It’s devastating,” said Ryan Sweet of Moody’s Analytics. “There’s someone behind each of these numbers. It’s going to take years to recover from this. There’s a case to be made that a lot of these are temporary layoffs, so hopefully people can return to work quickly as we begin to reopen the economy — but there’s no guarantee in that.”

Insurance Companies Refund Policyholders Billions of Dollars

Audrieanna Burgin
12 May 2020

Due to stay-at-home orders implemented around the world, malls, businesses, schools, universities, and more have temporarily closed or reduced operations. This has significantly reduced economic activity. Additionally, it has reduced the number of people driving. With less people on the roads, the number of accidents occurring has significantly decreased, resulting in drastically reduced risks to insurance companies. The University of California released a report stating that since the implementation of the stay-at-home orders in late March, the number of accidents has reduced by more than 50% . In California specifically, traffic volume has decreased by 55%. As a result, the monies insurance companies must pay out in claims has significantly decreased. However, despite the reduction in risks, insurance companies are still collecting monthly premiums from their policyholders, whose insurance now covers cars that are not being driven and accidents that are much less likely to occur.

COVID-19 and the State of the Housing Market

Audrieanna Burgin
11 May 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our economy, economists, researchers, and legislators are paying very close attention to the housing market. As unemployment rises and the stock market continues to be volatile, there is fear that COVID-19 “will spur a full-blown recession that takes the country months, or even years, to recover from,” according to Maurie Backman, USA Today. The housing market is currently seeing positive and negative changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trolls World Tour’s On-Demand Success Could Change the Movie Industry

NickelsMcHughMcHugh
8 May 2020

In early March, the movie studio Universal had already spent millions of dollars marketing its upcoming title Trolls World Tour in anticipation of its April 10th release. When the coronavirus pandemic shut down theaters across the nation, though, Universal made the bold decision to release the movie through on-demand platforms like Apple TV and Amazon. The gamble paid off handsomely for the movie studio: after three weeks on the market for $20 per rental, Trolls World Tour brought in more than $100 million. That’s more money than the original Trolls earned during its entire five-month run in theaters.

Frites Market on the Fritz

Michael Coon
1 May 2020

Like many countries around the world, Belgium is fighting a battle against the COVID-19 virus. As part of social distancing, restaurants and bars are closing down or limiting service. As a result, much of the food that was destined to…

NYT: “How One Business Pivoted to Fighting Coronavirus”

NickelsMcHughMcHugh
30 April 2020

Although many companies remain closed during the ongoing pandemic, some businesses have been able to alter their operations to produce increasingly vital supplies. This video looks at how Dogfish Head Brewery managed to keep its employees on the payroll while also supplying local hospitals with hand sanitizer.

Disneyworld Faces Longest Shutdown in its History

Audrieanna Burgin
28 April 2020

Disney has furloughed 100,000 theme park and hotel workers, including popular cast members. Disney is widely considered the largest employer in the nation and this furlough is expected to save the company a reported $500 million a month. The furlough is centralized in Florida where over 70,000 workers have been furloughed. An employee furlough is when staff members are required to take an unpaid leave of absence. According to an NBC News article, “Some 26,000 of those workers are members of UNITE and thanks to an agreement worked out with Disney before the layoffs, they will be automatically be enrolled in the unemployment program, the union said in a statement.” UNITE is a labor union representing workers throughout the U.S. and Canada who work in the hotel, gaming, food service, airport, textile, manufacturing, distribution, laundry, and transportation industries.

PBS News Hour: “The Cascading Economic Effects of Plummeting Oil Prices”

Veronica Horton
28 April 2020

The fallout from the global COVID-19 pandemic continued this week as oil prices plunged below zero. In a highly unusual situation, producers were quite literally paying buyers to take excess supplies. The crisis came as global demand for oil continued to be at record lows as government mandated shutdowns kept businesses closed and consumers at home in nearly every country in the world. Despite a recent agreement among OPEC + producers to reduce production by 10 percent, the glut of oil on the market was significant. With storage options all but exhausted and no easy way to simply stop production, it is unclear just what will happen next. Prices will almost certainly stay low though, even as the global economy begins to reopen, at least until existing excess supplies work their way through the system. Just how long it will take for demand to return to pre-COVID-19 levels is uncertain as signs that the world may be in for a prolonged recessionary period continue to grow.

GMA: “Yale student leads 2,700 volunteers in helping New Yorkers”

Audrieanna Burgin
24 April 2020

Liam Elkind is the founder of Invisible Hands, a group of thousands of volunteers that are bringing groceries to people at high risk of contracting coronavirus. This organization is connecting “young, able-body people with those most in need during this time of crisis.” People who are 65 and older or have pre-existing conditions have a higher risk for contracting coronavirus. The founders stated that they felt inspired by our healthcare professionals who are on the front lines fighting COVID-19. Through the Invisible Hand initiative, those at a higher risk can request a delivery of groceries, medicine, and/or supplies online. The Invisible Hand volunteer will then pick up the items and deliver them for free.

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