COVID ECONOMY IMPACT: Consumer habits shifted dramatically in March 2020 in response to stay-at-home orders and the shuttering of offices across the nation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were reports of people traveling less, workers gaining unprecedented freedom to work from anywhere and consumers ordering more products online.
The Census Bureau’s Quarterly Services Survey (QSS) provides all four quarters of seasonally adjusted data for 2020, shows what economists and others have dubbed the “winners and losers” of the pandemic economy. Couriers and messengers and offices of real estate agents and brokers ended the year with revenue above pre-pandemic levels from the last quarter of 2019. In contrast, the accommodations subsector ended 2020 with revenue well below the last quarter of 2019.
According to recent QSS data, the nation’s Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers generated $25.1 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2020 when strict stay-at-home orders were in place across most of the United States — a 23.2% decline from the previous quarter.
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UNEMPLOYMENT RECOVERY: WalletHub found that the US gained 559,000 jobs in May, which allowed for a comparison of the 50 states and the District of Columbia on rates of return from unemployment rates. Five metrics are used.
In Pennsylvania, there has been a 55.56% change in unemployment from May 2019 to May 2021, which is considered the 22nd worst recovery in the US. There were 278,691 unemployed people in May 2019 and 433,526 in May of 2021.
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-unemployment-rates/74907
