Gail Tverberg: Is there a way forward?
Many people are concerned today with the low price of oil. Others are concerned about slowing or stopping COVID-19. Is there any way forward? I gave a few hints regarding Continue Reading
Americans’ Fear of Job Loss Surges to 45-Year High, Poll Shows –
A quarter of working Americans believe it’s “very likely” or “fairly likely” they will lose their job or be laid off in the next 12 months, according to a Gallup poll. That’s Continue Reading
Global auto output could fall by nearly 20 million in 2020: LMC
Global vehicle production is now expected to fall more than 20% to around 71 million in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing recession, a top automotive Continue Reading
Goldman Sees Record U.S. Corporate Cash Spending Cuts This Year
The biggest U.S. companies will slash their cash spending this year amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “We forecast S&P 500 cash spending will Continue Reading
China Suffers Historic Economic Slump With Hard Recovery Ahead
The coronavirus pushed China’s economy into its first contraction in decades in the first quarter, with the spread of the disease around the world now leaving the nation reliant on Continue Reading
‘Nowhere to Hide’ as Unemployment Permeates the Economy
Even as political leaders wrangle over how and when to restart the American economy, the coronavirus pandemic’s devastation became more evident Thursday with more than 5.2 million workers added to Continue Reading
US home construction collapsed 22.3% in March
U.S. home-building activity collapsed in March as the coronavirus spread, with housing starts tumbling 22.3% from a month ago. The Commerce Department said Thursday that groundbreakings occurred last month at Continue Reading
US job losses mount as economic pain deepens worldwide
The ranks of America’s unemployed swelled toward Great Depression-era levels Thursday in an unprecedented collapse that intensified the push-pull from the White House on down over how and when to Continue Reading
Divided Supply Chains Are Challenging Producers, Retailers
The rapid shutdown of much of the U.S. economy delivered unprecedented shocks to the largely separate systems that supply businesses and consumers. Both rely on vetted networks of producers and Continue Reading
U.S. Factory Output Fell in March by the Most Since 1946
U.S. factory output dropped in March by the most since 1946 as a rolling wave of shutdowns related to the coronavirus crippled the manufacturing sector. Production slumped 6.3% from the prior Continue Reading
Commerce locks up and retail sales plunge unprecedented 8.7%
U.S. retail sales plummeted 8.7% in March, an unprecedented decline, as the viral outbreak forced an almost complete lockdown of commerce nationwide. The deterioration of sales far outpaced the previous Continue Reading
Banks brace for big loan defaults by US, global customers
The major banks in the U.S. are anticipating a flood of loan defaults as households and business customers take a big financial hit from the coronavirus pandemic. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Continue Reading
US economic data reveals damage; job losses hit Trump resort
The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Wednesday related to the global economy, the workplace and the spread Continue Reading
Coronavirus Closures Froze Swaths of U.S. Economy in March
Large chunks of the U.S. economy froze in March as the coronavirus pandemic closed malls, restaurants, factories and mines, causing Americans to cut retail spending by a record amount and Continue Reading
Business Leaders Urge Trump to Dramatically Increase Coronavirus Testing
Banking and financial services executives told President Trump that his administration needed to dramatically increase the availability of coronavirus testing before the public would be confident enough to return to Continue Reading
World economy set for heaviest blow since Great Depression
The coronavirus crisis will exact the biggest toll on the global economy since the 1930s Great Depression and potentially hit Britain harder than the Spanish flu epidemic and first world Continue Reading
Coronavirus-Afflicted Global Economy Is Almost Certainly in Recession
The global economy has almost certainly entered a recession affecting most of the world, with a severity unmatched by anything aside from the Great Depression, the International Monetary Fund said Continue Reading
Worst-Case Fears of 20%-Plus U.S. Jobless Rate Are Now Realistic
What started as the worst-case scenario for U.S. unemployment is quickly becoming reality. Some economists now see the jobless rate surging to 20% as soon as this month — and Continue Reading
A Second Round of Coronavirus Layoffs Has Begun. Few Are Safe.
A second wave of job loss is hitting those who thought they were safe. Businesses that set up employees to work from home are laying them off as sales plummet. Continue Reading
Economic Pain Will Persist Long After Lockdowns End
Walter Isenberg is the sort of business owner President Trump has in mind when he talks about the need to start lifting coronavirus lockdowns and reopen the American economy. Mr. Continue Reading
French economy to contract 8% this year as lockdown extended: minister
The French government on Monday scrapped its days-old economic outlook after President Emmanuel Macron extended a national lockdown, shutting down swathes of the euro zone’s second-biggest economy. Finance Minister Bruno Continue Reading
Europe’s Economy to Slump More Than 10% on Virus Measures
Europe is heading for a double-digit slump in the first half of 2020 amid widespread lockdowns to stem the spread of the coronavirus, according to economists. Bloomberg’s monthly survey puts the Continue Reading
Global economy already set for historic contraction
The global economy was facing the worst collapse since the second world war as coronavirus began to strike in March, well before the height of the crisis, according to the Continue Reading
Pakistan Reopens Factories Amid Virus Lockdown as Exports Drop
Pakistan is reopening some factories amid a national lockdown to counter the deadly coronavirus pandemic as the south Asian nation expects its exports will decline by 50% in the next two Continue Reading
High U.S. unemployment, 2.5 million jobs lost through 2021: survey
After a widely expected and sharp drop in the U.S. economy over the next three months, a panel of top business economists sees high joblessness persisting for more than a Continue Reading
Trump administration pushing to reopen much of the U.S. next month
The Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the country next month, raising concerns among health experts and economists of a possible covid-19 resurgence if Americans return to their Continue Reading
America is in a depression. The challenge now is to make it short-lived.
More than 17 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past four weeks, a rapid and unprecedented deterioration in the U.S. economy that the nation has decided is Continue Reading
WTO Says Global Trade Collapse May Be Worst in a Generation
The coronavirus pandemic could cause a deeper collapse of international trade flows than at any point in the postwar era, the World Trade Organization said. The Geneva-based trade body presented two possible Continue Reading
U.S. economy will eventually reopen but with big changes: Kudlow
The Trump administration is aiming to reopen the U.S. economy when the nation’s top health experts give the go-ahead, but Americans’ lives will be drastically different, White House economic adviser Continue Reading
Government and Businesses Turn Attention to Eventual Reopening of $22 Trillion U.S. Economy – WSJ
Government officials and business leaders are turning their attention to a looming challenge in the fight against the new coronavirus pandemic: Reopening a $22 trillion U.S. economy that has been shut Continue Reading
French Economy Shrinks Most Since WW II, Central Bank Estimates
The French economy shrank the most since World War II in the first quarter, and the outlook for the rest of the year is souring significantly amid the confinement to Continue Reading
U.S. Is Nowhere Close to Reopening the Economy, Experts Say
How long can we keep this up? It is still very early in the U.S. effort to snuff a lethal pandemic by shutting down much of the economy. But there Continue Reading
Waiting for the Next Historic Number: Global Economy Week Ahead
As the true economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic becomes clear, economists seeing unprecedented data releases on an almost daily basis are gearing up for even worse to come. In Continue Reading
World Economy Outlook: Risk From Global Disinflation
The sinking global economy is suffering through a colossal disinflationary shock that could briefly push it into dangerous deflation territory for the first time in decades. With many national economies all Continue Reading
State Shutdowns Have Taken at Least a Quarter of U.S. Economy Offline
At least one-quarter of the U.S. economy has suddenly gone idle amid the coronavirus pandemic, an analysis conducted for The Wall Street Journal shows, an unprecedented shutdown of commerce that Continue Reading
Global economy set for sharpest reversal since Great Depression
The coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns imposed by governments on both sides of the Atlantic have pushed the global economy into the sharpest downturn since the Great Depression, data released on Friday Continue Reading
A bleak US jobs report likely portends even deeper losses
A grim snapshot of the U.S. job market’s sudden collapse emerged Friday with a report that employers shed hundreds of thousands of jobs last month because of the viral outbreak Continue Reading
US Jobs Report Mar. 2020: Payrolls Fall 701,000 on Coronavirus
U.S. employment plummeted last month by a degree not seen since the last recession, in just an early glimpse of the devastation from the coronavirus pandemic. Payrolls fell 701,000 from the Continue Reading
Has Russia Reached Its Limit In The Oil Price War?
When Vladimir Putin was given a dire forecast of the economy under the cloud of a crippling coronavirus pandemic and a sharp fall in global demand for petroleum, the Russian Continue Reading
Euro zone business activity collapses in March as coronavirus spreads: PMI
Euro zone business activity collapsed last month as attempts to contain the coronavirus pandemic pushed governments across the continent to shut down vast swathes of their economies, from shops to Continue Reading
Economies won’t be able to recover after shutdowns
Citizens seem to be clamoring for shutdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There is one major difficulty, however. Once an economy has been shut down, it is extremely difficult Continue Reading
Wall Street’s major indexes slammed as virus anxiety grows
The key S&P 500 index was down more than 4% on Wednesday after a dire warning on the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus and heightened nerves over the upcoming Continue Reading
Why the Global Recession Could Last a Long Time
The world is almost certainly ensnared in a devastating recession delivered by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, fears are growing that the downturn could be far more punishing and long lasting Continue Reading
Why Asia’s New Wave of Virus Cases Should Worry the World
In China, international flights have been cut back so severely that Chinese students abroad wonder when they will be able to get home. In Singapore, recently returned citizens must share Continue Reading
S&P 500 heads for biggest ever first-quarter plunge
Wall Street’s major indexes fell on Tuesday and the S&P 500 was headed for a record first-quarter decline on growing evidence of large-scale economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. In Continue Reading
Factories Cut Output, Jobs as Coronavirus Lockdown Bites
Factories across Asia and Europe cut output and jobs at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, a sign the global economy has entered a deep freeze as governments Continue Reading
World Bank sees outbreak taking a big toll on Asia’s economy
The World Bank is estimating that the cornavirus outbreak will cause economic growth to slow significantly this year in China and other East Asian-Pacific countries, throwing millions into poverty. Under Continue Reading
U.S. Stock Futures Falter as Oil Trades at 18-Year Low
U.S. stock futures wobbled and oil dropped sharply Monday as investors grappled with the mounting economic toll after U.S. government officials signaled that measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic may Continue Reading
European shares retreat as coronavirus fears intensify
European stock markets headed lower on Monday, as fears about the economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic intensified with several nations extending near-total lockdowns. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was Continue Reading
IMF head says global economy now in recession
The head of the International Monetary Fund said Friday it is clear that the global economy has now entered a recession that could be as bad or worse than the Continue Reading