A global recession is already beginning due to the coronavirus pandemic, experts believe, as major companies begin laying off employees worldwide and a fifth of U.S. workers say that they have already lost wages due to the crisis.
Economists for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley say that a global recession has likely already begun, with the only question remaining how severe the pullback will be, and how long it will last.
‘We expect the recession to be front-loaded, with a recovery in [the second half of the year],’ said Goldman Sachs’ chief economist in a note to clients. ‘This assumes that infections will slow significantly by the end of April as the lockdowns and other mitigation measures bear fruit.’
Meanwhile, in a new Marist poll conducted for NPR/PBS News earlier this week, 18 percent of U.S. adults said that they had already lost their job or had their hours reduced due to the pandemic.
A statue of George Washington is seen by the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. Economists for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley say that a recession has already begun
A nearly empty Times Square due to the coronavirus pandemic is seen on Tuesday
Chairs are stacked at temporarily closed Cipriani Dolci at Grand Central in New York City as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States
Across the country, indications were stark that the pandemic, and the measures being taken to contain it, are having a severe effect on workers across a range of industries.
Travel has ground to a standstill, with business and personal trips being put on hold, and increasingly severe international travel bans.
The world’s biggest hotel operator, Marriott International, responded on Tuesday by launching furloughs what it expects will be tens of thousands of employees, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Marriott will not pay salaries to its furloughed employees at some of its managed properties which it started shutting down last week, according to the report.
The company is also trimming staff through furloughs at properties that are still operating, the Journal said.
Marriott had about 174,000 employees at the end of 2019.
The staff reductions will include everyone from general managers to housekeepers, as layoffs or furloughs at the corporate level are still under discussion, according to the report.
Meanwhile, a spate of orders closing all restaurants and bars for dine in service in New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois and many other states has devastated those who work in the industry.
Manager of the popular Bronx hangout spot Bronx Alehouse tapes a sign saying that they will be closing starting at 8pm on Monday, March 16, 2020
Taped off seating areas in a McDonald’s restaurant in Brooklyn on Tuesday. New York is trying to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus by closing schools, restaurants and bars
A woman wearing a face mask walks in front of a Dunkin Donuts store in Bushwick, Brooklyn on Tuesday. The future of their workforce is uncertain due to coronavirus.
This Dunkin in Brooklyn remains open for carryout. Employees of the chain do not receive paid leave and fear being laid off
Across the country, there were 11,674,000 people working in restaurants and bars as of February, according to federal data.
Though national data about unemployment claims is only available through mid-February, there are signs that the unemployment rate is set to skyrocket.
Senator Rob Portman, and Ohio Republican, said on Tuesday that he received new data on Ohio’s unemployment claims showing 45,000 claims this week compared to 6,500 last week, according to journalist Liz Skalka.
That’s a one-week increase of 592 percent.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine shut down the state’s bars and restaurants on Sunday night, acknowledging that it would be hard workers.
About 500,000 people work in food and dining establishments in Ohio, around 10 percent of the state’s workforce.
Ieisha Dede, left, and Cali Malatek put up a take out sign outside a Denny’s restaurant on in Spring, Texas. Houston area bars and restaurants have been ordered to follow new restrictions
Bartender Michelle Radziunas waits for customers at Maloney’s Pub in Meriden, Connecticut, hours before the state joined others in closing all bars and restaurants
‘Look, this is brutally tough, and my heart goes out to them,’ DeWine said. ‘But we have to do what we have to do to save their lives, and not just their lives but the lives of others. And our goal is for us to get through this.’
At the national level, President Donald Trump promised he’s ‘going big’ with plans to blunt the economic pain caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump wants the government to send checks to Americans in the next two weeks to help support them while chunks of the economy come closer to shutting down, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.
Gains for stocks accelerated temporarily as Trump and Mnuchin spoke at a briefing, but neither gave details about how big the stimulus could be.
Mnuchin is pitching Senate Republicans on a roughly $850 billion stimulus plan to help the economy, including relief for small businesses and the airline industry.