Pandemic
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VincentImpact of COVID-19 on the American Economy
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The COVID-19 epidemic has brought a public health catastrophe and an economic crisis
in the US. The epidemic has disrupted people's lives, overloaded the healthcare system, and
slowed the world economy. More than 6.5 million verified COVID-19 cases and more than
195,000 fatalities were reported across the country as of September 15, 2020. (Johns Hopkins
University n.d.). Internationally, 6.4 million deaths and 605 million confirmed cases have been
recorded since September 11, 2022 (Ciravegna & Michailova, 2022). The pandemic has
simultaneously caused a supply shock, a demand shock, and a monetary shock, giving rise to an
economic crisis of unparalleled size.
Lockdowns and voluntary social withdrawal, which went into force in March 2020,
helped separate people and reduce infection rates, but they also sparked a catastrophic economic
crisis. Consumer services suffered from the demand shock brought on by the quarantine,
unemployment, and company closures. Social isolation and lockdown measures hindered the
economy's ability to create products and services. The COVID-19-related job losses erased 113
consecutive months of job gain, resulting in a decline of 20.5 million jobs in total nonfarm
employment in April (Estrada et al., 2020). All employees were affected by the COVID-19
epidemic and related financial closures, although the effects were more pronounced for women,
people of color, and those earning less money.
In conclusion, the American economy was performing quite well before the outbreak.
Both the unemployment rate and inflation were at all-time lows. However, since the pandemic's
start, 'real' GDP growth shrank startlingly by 31.40% in the second quarter (Nicola et al., 2020).
Since the Great Depression, these figures have not been observed. Early this year, the
unemployment rate soared to 14.7%, the highest level since the post-World War II era
(Ciravegna & Michailova, 2022). Even though the rate has decreased for five straight months,
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those laid off from leisure, hospitality, and other comparable businesses are left to wonder when
assistance will arrive. The COVID-19 epidemic has recently been the country's most pressing
economic problem.
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References
Ciravegna, L., & Michailova, S. (2022). Why the world economy needs, but will not get, more
globalization in the post-COVID-19 decade. Journal of International Business
Studies, 53(1), 172-186. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-021-00467-6.
Estrada, M. A. R., Koutronas, E., & Lee, M. (2020). Stagpression: The economic and financial
impact of Covid-19 Pandemic. SSRN Electronic Journal· January.
Jhu.edu (n.d). COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE)
at Johns Hopkins University (JHU). John Hopkins University of Medicine: Coronavirus
Resource Center. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html.
Nicola, M., Alsafi, Z., Sohrabi, C., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Iosifidis, C., ... & Agha, R. (2020).
The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): A
review. International journal of surgery, 78, 185-193.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.018.
