From This Collection

Chickens come home to roost for new baby chick owners

Jun 17, 2020
Hatcheries across the country saw a surge in orders when the lockdown began. The chickens came first, then the eggs.
Douglas Friedman was stuck at home because of shelter-in-place orders, so he decided to raise chickens with a neighbor.
Carlos Morales/Marfa Public Radio

As COVID-19 lockdown eases, Britain faces an unfamiliar threat: mass unemployment

Jun 17, 2020
Laid-off workers try to come to terms with a grueling new reality in what was once Europe’s most vibrant labor market.
A million jobs have been lost in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic as people stayed home and practiced social distancing.
Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Which jobs are coming back first? Which may never return?

Jun 17, 2020
A snapshot of who's hiring now, plus a warning about employment predictions in an unknown COVID-19 recovery.
Job postings in the beauty and wellness category rebounded at the job-listing behemoth Indeed.
Jim Watson, Getty Images

Powell to give Congress another economic assessment

Jun 17, 2020
By some measures, the economy is headed up. But that's coming from a deep trough, and the Fed chair is warning that there are risks ahead.
Consumer spending, manufacturing and business investment are still far below pre-pandemic levels.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Work-sharing programs allow companies to keep furloughed workers

Jun 17, 2020
Not all states have the programs, in which workers' hours are cut and unemployment benefits are used to fill in wages.
An employee at a cafe in Los Angeles in March. Work sharing is one solution to keep people employed during the COVID-19 recession.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

How one food producer kept business going amid the pandemic

Jun 16, 2020
Grand Prairie Foods lost 80% of its hospitality and travel-related business in one day. To survive, it's focusing on packaged foods.
When the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, became one of the hot spots of the COVID-19 outbreak, Kurt Loudenback, the CEO of Grand Prairie Foods, asked many of his workers to stay home.
Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images

The Fed starts buying corporate bonds

Jun 16, 2020
The Federal Reserve is buying a broad cross-section of bonds to make sure firms have the money they need to weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
A trader walks by the New York Stock Exchange. The Federal Reserve has begun buying corporate bonds as part of the CARES Act.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Retail sales were way up in May. But don't pop the Champagne just yet.

Jun 16, 2020
March and April's weak numbers were easy to beat. Upcoming changes, such as the end of unemployment bonus payments, may stall the upward trend.
A reopened clothing store in Los Angeles. U.S. retail sales climbed at a record rate in May.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

China's big savers weather pandemic uncertainty

Jun 16, 2020
The communist government is not handing out cash to struggling workers. Many have to depend on themselves.
Zhang Lei manages an entertainment center in Shanghai, and for four months, he was not sure whether he would still have a job or not.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Will surges in COVID-19 cases mean a return to lockdowns?

Jun 16, 2020
Coronavirus cases are rising in many parts of the country, at the same time movement restrictions are lifted.
A "Now open" sign outside an indoor axe-throwing range and bar in Las Vegas, which is opening for the first time since closing in March.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images