7 Major Coronavirus Developments — Crisis Exposes RI's Economic Weaknesses — April 14, 2020
GoLocalProv News Team
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — Crisis Exposes RI's Economic Weaknesses — April 14, 2020
The dual impact of the economic and health crisis of the coronavirus pandemic has exposed Rhode Island's fragile economy. A record 200,000 Rhode Islanders are out of work.
Key industries are unlikely to bounce back with vigor in the short-term and others may never come back.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe long-term impact is devastating for two of Rhode Island's largest job sectors. According to the RI DLT, hospitality and leisure represents 58,267 jobs in Rhode Island and the retail sector most recently tallied 48,528 positions.
New Catchphrase
Now, Governor Gina Raimondo has announced a new catchphrase for the near future -- the "new normal" -- but to date has announced no new job training programs or any plans to realign the economy as it reopens.
WATCH: Former RI Director of Health Dr. Michael Fine on GoLocal LIVE at 12 PM on Tuesday
"The governors have been the ones showing great leadership and taking action -- it's only appropriate doing this now, to show regional leadership to reopen the economy," said Raimondo on a press call with other northeastern Democratic governors on Monday.
"[The]new normal...[is] how we screen people entering business...using touchless technologies," said Raimondo.
Critical to creating a 'new normal' is creating new jobs in emerging growth sectors as jobs in sectors like hospitality and retail are unlikely to return.
READ 7 Major Coronavirus Developments BELOW
7 Major Coronavirus Developments — April 14, 2020
It is Not Just Tourism
The number of jobs lost is at a record pace in Rhode Island. But it is not all hospitality and tourism job losses.
A new report released Monday shows Rhode Island's relative tourism pain did not make the list of the top ten states adversely impacted.
"As tourism suffers, workers will bear the brunt of the difficulty. According to data from the U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics, there could be as many as 5.9 million jobs lost due to declining travel by the end of April. However, the stimulus package signed by President Trump may provide some aid to the industry in the form of business loans, tax relief, and other financial support," reports WalletHub.
Rhode Island ranks as the 12th hardest-hit state for loss of tourism jobs.
Big Banks Getting Hit
JPMorgan Chase’s profits fell by 69% in the first quarter as America’s largest bank prepares for a “fairly severe recession” by dramatically ramping up loan loss provisions.
According to the Financial Times, "The bank reported net income of almost $2.9B for the three months ended in March, down from about $9.2B a year earlier. Earnings per share of 78 cents were far worse than the $1.76 predicted by analysts contributing to a Bloomberg poll.
JPMorgan is known as one of the most conservative banks on Wall Street but the scale of the provisions sets a grim tone for the other big US banks reporting later this week."
Some Are Benefitting
One company reported higher earnings.
"Johnson & Johnson’s profit for the first quarter shot up as the coronavirus health crisis drove demand for over-the-counter medicine, though it said it would see a decline in sales this year as it spends more in response to the pandemic," reports the Wall Street Journal.
J&J posted net income of $5.8 billion compared with $3.75 billion over the same quarter last year.
Big selling products were Tylenol medicine and upper-respiratory products such as Zyrtec, rose 9.2% to $3.63 billion. The company has said that demand for Tylenol over-the-counter medicine rose as people sought to use the painkiller to reduce fever and relieve pain associated with COVID-19 reported the company.
Numbers
2,976 Cases in Rhode Island
26,867 Cases in Massachusetts
73 Deaths in RI
844 Deaths in Massachusetts
587,752 Cases in the United States
23,765 Deaths in the United States
1,939,720 Global Cases
120,761 Global Deaths
454,006 Global Recoveries
No Layoffs By State or Cities and Towns
While the private sector has been devastated, neither the state of Rhode Island or any of the 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island have announced layoffs.
Devastating Job Losses in Rhode Island
Here are the numbers since March 8, 2020:
144,099 have filed for Unemployment Insurance.
16,249 have filed for Temporary Disability Insurance.
22,502 gig workers have filed in just the past week
Going into the crisis 20,000 Rhode Islanders were out of work.
The total -- 202,850
GoLocal LIVE Schedule on Tuesday, April 14
10:00 AM Zachary Levesque, Northpointe - discussing the impact of the crisis on the housing market in RI
12:00 PM Dr. Michael Fine, former Director of the RI Department of Health
1:00 PM Governor Gina Raimondo
3:00 PM UVA Professor Jennifer Lawless - discussing the nation's politics
EDITOR'S NOTE: Raimondo does not allow Rhode Islanders to hear reporters' questions. Nearly all governors across the country and the White House allow reporters to ask questions directly and for the public to hear the questions and the responses.
