While the pandemic has devastated Indiana’s tourism and hospitality industries, the picture is decidedly mixed for manufacturing—which constitutes more than a quarter of the state’s gross domestic product.
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IBJ reporters Samm Quinn and Anthony Schoettle spent a week talking with the leaders of downtown companies and learned that many are delaying plans to bring workers back to the office.
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Experts say the wave of layoffs and pay cuts that first ravaged the service industry in mid-March are starting to erode management, upper-level and even executive jobs.
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Some local restaurants trying to stay afloat without dine-in service report sales have plunged by two-thirds or more, raising questions about how much longer they’ll be able to survive.
Read MoreThe Federal Reserve since June has been buying $120 billion in bonds each month to keep downward pressure on long-term interest rates as a way of giving the economy a boost as it struggles to emerge from a deep recession.
U.S. consumers increased their spending by a sluggish 0.5% last month, the weakest rise since April, when the pandemic first erupted.
The strength in October came primarily from the volatile category of defense orders, with demand for military aircraft surging by 79.1%.
While an effective vaccine is expected to be widely distributed in 2021, surging U.S. infections are causing renewed angst as government officials re-impose the kind of restrictions that squelched the economy and roiled markets earlier this year.
A surge in coronavirus infections nationwide and the expiration of a $600 weekly boost to unemployment checks over the summer have slowed spending by Americans.
Jeff Korzenik, chief investment strategist at Fifth Third Bank, said Thursday that homeowners and businesses have become more interested in locating in suburbs and mid-sized cities—a trend that could benefit the Indianapolis area.
The forecast holds out hope for positive economic growth in the second half of 2021 in Indiana, but it assumes the state will either remain at Stage 5 of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s reopening plan or operate under even fewer restrictions.
The U.S. economy has recovered two-thirds of the ground it lost during the first half of the year, and yet has a long way to go and remains vulnerable, economists said.
The three major U.S. indexes closed out the final trading day of a turbulent October with more losses, capping a wretched week marked by a record surge in coronavirus infections, dashed hopes for an economic rescue deal before the election and renewed fears of a new wave of business disruptions.
The Commerce Department’s estimate Thursday of third-quarter growth regained about two-thirds of the output that was lost early this year when the economy essentially froze as safety orders forced restaurants, bars and many retailers to shut down.
The sell-off began two weeks ago but intensified Monday. It has been triggered by a surge in coronavirus cases and the fact that the White House and Democrats are at an impasse over relief talks.
Three major U.S. stock indexes tumbled at least 3.4% on Wednesday as uncertainty about the economy, politics and public health drove investors from the market.
The S&P 500 fell 1.9% Monday to 3,400.19 points, deepening its losses from last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.3% to 27,685.38 points, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.6% to 11,358.94 points.
A Federal Reserve survey of business conditions around the country found that the U.S. economy grew at a “slight to modest” pace in September and early October, but that the pace of activity varied greatly among sectors.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard the U.S. labor market is likely to bounce back quickly when more temporarily furloughed workers return to jobs and the coronavirus pandemic comes under control.
The deficit at the end of fiscal 2020 equaled 15% of the U.S. economy, a huge gap that was the largest since the government undertook massive borrowing to finance the final year of World War II.
There appears to be a new sense of urgency from the White House and some congressional Republicans to reach some sort of agreement amid signs the economic recovery is weakening.
The solid economic recovery under way could falter without continued financial support from the government, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday.
Consumer confidence is closely watched for signals about consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of economic activity in the United States.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed cautious optimism Tuesday that the U.S. economy is rebounding, but stressed that major sectors of the economy were still suffering.
