May Jobs Report Could Offer Welcomed Relief

• Author: Bryan Miller
• Posted: 2024-08-15

With over 30 million jobs lost in only the past three months, the United States’ economy is suffering more than any other economy in the world right now that’s dealing with virus concerns. Even China, home of the virus’s origins, didn’t suffer these sorts of setbacks. Though for as bad as things were throughout the end of February and all of March, April was far and away the worst month for job loss on record in the history of the united states. However, many economists believe May could be a much better month in comparison.

In many states, like Virginia, the Carolinas, Florida, and even California, cases of Covid-19 are flattening out. It’s still pretty bad in terms of people who’ve been infected for a while not getting better and dying; that’s still driving death numbers high. Though whether it’s through the lockdowns, a change in weather, or social distancing, the curve is starting to flatten, and this is allowing some jobs to reopen already, with some states set to loosen up their restrictions mid-month, in only a week.

What economists expect is that as soon as jobs are allowed to reopen and people are allowed to get back out there, we’re going to experience a fairly large initial boom. Other than paying their mortgage and buying groceries, most Americans haven’t had to dip into their stimulus funds. Reports also show that many of America’s unemployed have been able to save up quite a bit of money over the past month, as the $600 in additional federal unemployed was given on top of existing unemployment benefits, not in replace of, meaning that most unemployed people are actually making more money now than they were.

Yes, there are still millions of people suffering to pay their bills, but there are also millions who now have a surplus of cash lying around. When they’re able to visit home improvement stores, recreational businesses, clothing and goods stores, etc, some experts predict that parts of the economy will snap back like a rubber band and propel certain industries almost immediately.

So while it’s still being predicted that more jobs will be lost in May, some are hopeful that the jobs coming back will mean we experience a net positive as a nation, instead of another dismal month of lay-offs and business closures. For every state that opens up a single business again, that’s more people back in the workforce. Economists predict that we’re going to be seeing more businesses opening than closing, which should start getting those numbers to go the other way for a change. Only at the end of the first week of May, it’s hard to say what the next three weeks hold, but there is some hope here.

Though there’s also a big risk of getting the economy going again too soon, which medical experts fear might start the virus concerns over again from scratch.

What Could Save Jobs Could Be a Double-Edged Sword

A handful of economists and a lot of medical professionals are urging utmost caution in reopening the economy. Last week, Georgie, Alaska and a couple of other states reopened in order to help their economies rebound and hopefully stop a lot of the suffering. Though the fear here is that the virus will experience a second wave. If people aren’t social distancing and are around each other in enclosed areas, what we think is a world on the mend could easily start to trend as a pandemic once more, warns many health professionals.

The most dangerous aspect of Covid-19 isn’t so much how easy it’s spread or even its respiratory complications; rather, it’s that there are no proven effective treatments or vaccines for the virus. This means that it’s not simply going to go away. Having a pandemic that’s currently in the stages of flattening doesn’t mean anything if people start treating it like it has passed. It only means that we could again start seeing spikes, and in states that were previously doing okay.

Alaska, for instance, barely has 400 cases. However, experts claim this is because of shut-downs and social distancing. If they start gathering together now, like a world pre-virus, they could experience a huge spike in cases; Georgia, Arizona, Nebraska, it doesn’t matter, claim experts. Lax conditions could end in disaster.

So while easing off on the restrictions is a great thing for jobs, some medical experts claim it’s not a good thing in the long term.