Week of April 13th, 2020

Today we’re talking unemployment, Trump tweets and Mexican Coke. Then a special guest stops by.

“Nothing has been as challenging, as nerve-wracking, as stressful as this,” said Ed Serna, Executive Director of the Texas Workforce Commission.

Shortages of medical goods change executives’ views of ties between giant trading partners

China’s first quarter GDP contracts for the first time since 1992. Plus: what it’s like to run an unemployment insurance program right now.

Many companies are taking a hard look at their tattered supply chains.

The Chinese economy virtually stopped for nearly two months. One clothier is barely hanging on while life slowly returns to normal.

The number of people traveling by plane has dropped at least 95%. We run the numbers.

More than 80% say they’ don’t know if they can afford food in coming weeks, according to the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

This month, 84% of apartment dwellers paid rent by April 12. But not everyone could pay all of it. The stock market is buoyed by some health care news. The president of the Philadelphia Fed offers some insight.

With lost income due to the COVID-19 slowdown, many renters can’t pay in full.

The prospect raises health care privacy concerns about protections for workers found to be ill.

“We’re seeing the alarming cost of the lockdown,” Zanny Minton Beddoes said.

Don’t expect an immediate economic rebound, Patrick Harker says.

Among the new federal guidelines for easing the economy back up is more widespread testing. A global perspective on getting back to work after sheltering in place. China’s economy contracts for the first time in decades.

The COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll on the world’s second largest economy. Hennessy, orange juice and an unlikely alliance in this week’s global business roundup. What can Iceland teach the rest of the world about virus testing?

Also, very cool, but, as a homeschool tool, probably out of reach for most.

Some food delivery services charge as much as 40% in fees. That’s cutting into restaurants’ bottom line.

Plus: Why testing is still the biggest coronavirus story, and the 99-year-old raising money for British health services.

The clock is ticking for one college student after she finds out she’s pregnant in the middle of a pandemic, in a state that’s trying to restrict abortion.

A traveling exhibit connects the racist housing policies of the past to the inequities of today.

Plus, earnings season’s new “COVID metrics,” the New Yorkers not paying rent and the high delivery app fees squeezing restaurants. 

Jobless claims are unprecedented. That’s starting to show up in rent payment rates.

The Belcourt Theatre might be closed, but for its Executive Director Stephanie Silverman, the work goes on.

Some people may choose not to file unemployment claims, while others may not be eligible for benefits.

Corporate profits are expected to drop across the board this quarter. But beyond the headline figures, earnings reports offer a lot of clues about how the economy is faring through the crisis.

In the space of four weeks, about 22 million Americans have filed jobless claims.

The Payroll Protection Program has run through its money already. About 5.25 million people filed for state unemployment benefits in the last week. Buses in Detroit are now free, but bus drivers have safety concerns as essential workers.

After Detroit bus drivers staged a “sick-out,” passengers began getting free rides so that drivers wouldn’t have to handle fares.

Big banks say they’ll give customers a temporary break on negative balances.

There’s concern that the hardest hit businesses aren’t getting enough help.

Some states like California, New York and Texas could see their unemployment funds running low.

Context on the millions more who signed up for state unemployment benefits in the last week. Big banks pledge that stimulus checks will not go toward covering overdraft fees and such. Is the current economic narrative a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Nobel economist Robert Shiller discusses the power of narratives during a pandemic.

Britain flies in foreign workers to harvest fruit during the COVID-19 outbreak. Germany starts to open up. The challenges of lockdown for many Indian migrant workers.

Apple and Google have created an app to track whether you’ve been near a COVID-19 patient.

That’s just one question we try to answer in this week’s listener episode.

The pandemic is changing the way high school seniors choose their institution of higher learning.

Rising demand has led to a tripling in sales at Vermont-based King Arthur Flour.

Two small British businesses — a cheese monger and a rivet maker — struggle to stay afloat in the coronavirus lockdown.

Plus, the spring clothing stranded in stores, coronavirus’ effect on college admissions and the country’s yeast shortage. 

Despite expanded eligibility, many people who are out of work because of COVID-19 can’t access federal support.

Despite being home to many essential manufacturing, Spartanburg County, South Carolina has had to adapt.

The Small Business Administration says over 1.3 million loan applications have been approved as of Wednesday. But many businesses whose loans have been approved haven’t yet seen any of the money.

The ripple effect of recent plant closures is still being assessed.

Clothes are stranded in stores during a normally popular time for shopping.

Retail sales fell dramatically in March, slightly more than the pessimistic forecasts of economists. How to gradually lift stay-at-home orders and phase in economic activity. Do we pay enough to workers at the frontlines of this pandemic? Airlines reach a bailout deal.

The deal comes with strings attached: For one thing, 30% of the money is going to have to be paid back.

Increased ability to do testing, adequate hospital capacity and new safety measures for businesses are among the measures governors are reviewing.

Both the sales and building of homes has slowed with the spread of the pandemic.

A place like Columbus, Ohio, relies on income tax for 75% of its revenue.

The apps promise to match clients to online therapists for as little as $40 a week.

When you turn off large parts of the economy, cities and states aren’t collecting as much in taxes. New numbers on homebuilders’ confidence — or pessimism. Even before the pandemic, online therapy and therapy apps were booming.

Grocery store workers, delivery drivers and food service workers have long complained of low-wages and limited or non-existent benefits packages.

The G-20 decides whether to suspend debt payments for the poorest economies. Spain slowly emerges from lockdown. And one top chef swaps the banquet hall for the school lunch hall.

“We can do a lot more than just help people know how much they have left on their card,” Propel CEO Jimmy Chen said.

America’s got warehouses full of frozen meat, potatoes, cheese and other food, but getting it to grocery stores is harder than you might expect.

Those auctions are an important part of the rural economy and the food chain. The people working the auctions are taking safety precautions.

Tomorrow was supposed to be Tax Day. Accountants are not resting.

Cancelled appointments amount to lost revenue for physicians in private practice.

Cities and states will have to rethink their budgets because of tax revenue loss.

And those feelings may change between now and the lifting of stay-at-home orders.

It’s been pushed to July 15. Plus: a new IMF outlook, the challenges of managing staff remotely and an unexpected essential business: livestock auctions. 

IMF economists talked to epidemiologists and tried to estimate how much COVID-19 restrictions will affect the economy.

Many of those that are most in need don’t qualify for aid.

The Mortgage Brokers Association expects the number of home loans in forbearance to increase rapidly.

The market is clearly pricing in a recession. More Americans are putting their mortgage payments on hold. The latest on business interruption insurance. NBCUniversal is set to launch its Peacock streaming service.

The service will be available free for subscribers to Comcast Xfinity, and at various price points for others in July.

The loan program was designed before we understood how long this crisis might last, Amanda Ballantyne of Main Street Alliance says.

Many banks are still expected to pay dividends to shareholders.

The season for corporations to report their January to March results is upon us, and many will contain educated guesses about how the COVID-19 Economy will play out. Inside the confusion over the $350 billion in loans for smaller businesses.

Italy, Spain and Austria start to go back to work while France extends its lockdown until 11 May. India is forecast to see no economic growth this year, as it extends its lockdown. India’s call center sector faces job losses.

Fewer aspirational posts, but more entertainment.

Is it a group of governors? Is it your employer? It’s complicated.

Researchers hope that antibodies of those who have recovered from COVID-19 can be used in a treatment.

The pandemic has caused another sharp decline in business.

As the coronavirus pandemic forces many of us inside, a reporter based in Beijing shares ways to make life a little easier.

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said the charity needs more funding, food supply and volunteers to respond to the crisis.

Plus: The U.S. Postal Service’s financial trouble, how social distancing is changing the urban landscape and a conversation with the CEO of Feeding America.

Oakland is one of the cities experimenting with closing streets to through traffic to give room to pedestrians and cyclists to maintain social distancing.

They’re about supply chains.

A whole lot of “meh” from the markets when it comes to price changes for oil. Online grocery delivery companies are having trouble keeping up with demand. Britain’s textile industry gets an unexpected boost from COVID-19.

After the coronavirus lockdown in China, British clothing retailers turn back to British manufacturers.

Entertainers from London’s West End have found temporary work in supermarkets after theaters closed due to the coronavirus shutdown.

Some health groups point to early research that indicates smoking and vaping can make COVID-19 symptoms worse.

The FBI reports that background checks in March were up. Some of those purchasing guns are doing so for the first time.

The IRS says it has started distributing emergency aid payments. Public health advocates call for limits or bans on the sale of tobacco products during COVID-19. Some are buying firearms for the first time right now.

Countries in Europe start to relax COVID-19 restrictions to revive economies. Are oil production curbs enough to tackle price slumps? Entertainers make ends meet by working in local grocery stores.

Those who filed taxes in the past two years and used direct deposit for their refunds will be the first to get the payments, the IRS says.

Jay Koh calls it the double whammy effect.