Cartoon

Global Cooling

Written by SK Ashby

(Cartoonist - Stuart Carlson)

In other news, growth in retail sales fell further than economists predicted in August (just 0.6 percent). Growth is down significantly from June when stimulus measures were still in place.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says interest rates will remain at near zero for at least the next three years.

Finally, Yelp data shows that about 61 percent of pandemic business closures are now permanent closures.

Throughout the past six months, restaurants, bars, and nightlife have been hit the hardest by the restrictions brought along by the pandemic: 32,109 restaurants have closed, as of Aug. 31. The number of restaurants forced to permanently close is slightly above Yelp's total average, at 61%. [...]

Bars and nightlife venues have also seen a large impact from the pandemic, as a business that can't adapt as easily to outdoor dining or takeout. Despite being a sector that is six times smaller than restaurants, 6,451 venues have closed. The rate of permanent closures has increased 10% since July, now sitting at 54%.

Retail saw a similar increase in permanent closures since July, rising 10% to a total of 58% indicated permanent. That's out of 30,374 closed retail businesses.

With a vaccine not being widely available to the general public for another year, at least according to the CDC director, it's anyone's guess what things are going to look like by then.