Restaurants face closings as business slows and rents go unpaid

Jul 14, 2020
Eighty percent of restaurants in New York City didn't pay full rent in June. The businesses historically have little if any reserves, one expert says.
A man waits for his lunch order at a nearly empty restaurant at Grand Central Market in Los Angeles in June.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Restaurants, bars put the brakes on reopening, just as jobs started coming back

Jul 9, 2020
More than 30% of June's job gains came from bars and restaurants.
Restaurants and bars in states where COVID-19 is spiking have run up against new rules to once again cut capacity or certain services.
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Teachers push back against school reopening plans

Jul 2, 2020
School closures have made work almost impossible for many parents, but classrooms present health risks.
An elementary school teacher reads to her class online as she sits in her empty classroom.
Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Texas bar owners sue state after being forced to close again

Jun 30, 2020
Bar owners say they are being unfairly singled out.
A bartender serves a drink to a customer at a bar in Austin, Texas, in May. Texas Gov. Abbott has singled out bars as the reason for a spike in COVID-19 cases in the state.
Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images

As infections surge, reopenings stumble

Jun 29, 2020
Epidemiologists warn that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have spiked in the states that reopened most aggressively.
A man gets his hair cut at a barbershop in Austin, Texas, in May. Texas is one of several states with spiking coronavirus cases after an early reopening.
Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images

As pandemic worsens, will restaurants need to pull back again?

Jun 24, 2020
Small restaurants are at the greatest risk if put under new restrictions.
A Los Angeles restaurant worker wears a face covering and gloves for handling takeout orders, accompanied by pandemic-safety instructions.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Why is unemployment still so high?

Jun 19, 2020
Weekly jobless claims have leveled off at well above 1 million, as new layoffs offset people called back to work.
A closed job placement office in New York. Unemployment remains at record highs despite parts of the economy reopening.
Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Stop talking and face the corner: the new rules of elevators during COVID-19

Jun 19, 2020
Elevators have always been awkward. Now they're a social distancing nightmare.
People stand in designated areas of an elevator to ensure social distancing, but there's only so much distancing one can do in such a confined space.
Juni Kriswanto/AFP via Getty Images

As states lift restrictions, are people going back to stores and restaurants?

Jun 12, 2020
We check in with some folks we talked to a month ago.
People dine on a restaurant patio in Connecticut in late May. Some people feel more comfortable dining outside at a restaurant but aren't ready to sit in a dining room yet.
John Moore/Getty Images

As Austin bars open again, owners try to balance revenue and safety

May 29, 2020
Texas saloons and bars have lost at least $600 million since the pandemic forced them to shut down.
People listen to live music at the reopened Blind Pig Pub in Austin, Texas, on May 22.
Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images