COVID-19 was the number one story for 2020

Photo by Long Truong on Unsplash

Without a doubt the number one news story across the planet was the COVID-19 pandemic that attacked all countries and all social classes, upending the world’s economy and shuttering businesses and sending people teetering on the edge of financial disaster and caused 1.81 million deaths.

As 2020 draws to a close we can see close up the effects on capitalism and its seemingly sound foundation, but in reality showed the fragility of a system that many had taken for granted, with some sense of a safety net, to realize that for many it was an illusion, and showed the weakness for those who were seemingly adherents, especially those who were Black and Brown often, tethered to low wage service jobs, and who could often find no port for safety,, and risked exposure and death.

In America, the piecemeal health system, locally governed, proved inadequate as it attempted to grapple with the fragility, and inadequacy of systems that were not prepared to stem the tide of a new coronavirus, coupled with a national leader who feared that admitting reality would panic his people; and, ironically affecting those who were already panicking as death’s cold hand took their loved ones lives, leaving the dead to bury the dead.

Class systems in this country remained stalwart, despite objections as when reminded that not all people could work from home told us, “We’ll stay home so that they can go to work.”

This is an opportune time to makes us pause to examine these cracks and fissures, both economic, and social that can be healed, and made whole, not simply with the the vaccine, but also the will to change the systems, and roles, that have not worked, and the bravery to discern what can remain, and what can be discarded.

“We have a chance to do something extraordinary. As we head out of this pandemic we can change the world. Create a world of love. A world where we are kind to each other. A world where we are kind no matter what class, race, sexual orientation, what religion or lack of or what job we have. A world we don't judge those at the food bank because that may be us if things were just slightly different. Let love and kindness be our roadmap,” noted Johnny Corn.

We, as well as world leaders, must realize the infinite hazards of a world where people, even in America, are turning to food banks to feed their families;, and it is worth noting that in  many instances these are families, who were previously donors, not clients.

Sadly, as the vaccines have been approved in the United States as well as the United Kingdom there are others in a rush to save themselves are buying in excess amounts, but are also jeopardizing third world countries.

Fear of course is potent, but also as Marie Curie noted: “Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” 

With that goal in mind, the need to understand the basics of the virus has been complicated by conspiracy theories, and a lack of basic science knowledge, indeed, what a virus is, to avoid hearing statements, such as ‘If you take Vitamin C you won’t get it” or “my kids eat well, really well, so I am not afraid for them.”

Acceptance is also complicated by a burgeoning anti-science stance that is tied to anti-vaccine behavior that in the past has increased measles among children, but now threatens to slow the progress towards policing the virus, if not completely eradicating it.

Preparing the way is also on the horizon, as scientists are banding together to harness the next virus, a string of which has plagued humanity since the Bubonic Plague, and now in the great beyond.

The old lyrics by Simon and Garfunkel, from “The Sound of Silence” have haunted us recently and are worth repeating:

“Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence.”

Let it not be. There is the darkness before the light, said a wise man.

November Jobs Report is a stinker

In a growing sign that the US economy has been shattered by the COVID pandemic the Labor Department on Friday reported that only 245,000 non-farm jobs have been added to the American market, and conjoined by a 6.7 percent unemployment rate, they both contribute to the economic free-fall that has been predicted by some economists.

As we have noted previously the effect on American individuals and families has been devastating with evictions, long lines at food banks and homelessness, and with unemployment benefit extensions expiring on the day after Christmas, the raging dilemma for most people is panic.

The Hill noted that the down-slide in the nation is “fading at a much steeper rate than had been expected. Economists projected the U.S. to add roughly 400,000 jobs last month.”

The corresponding decrease in labor force participation has contributed to the decrease in the unemployment rate, but as has been established, that is only part of the picture, since the figure does not capture how many people have given up looking for work; and, those who want full time work, but are stuck in part time work.

“The CARES Act was a critical lifeline for the economy through the pandemic’s first phase, but rear-view economics cannot inform the current state of the recovery," wrote Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, in a Friday analysis,” also from The Hill.

“In November, the number of workers jobless for at least 27 weeks — economists’ barometer for “long-term” unemployment — grew by 385,000 to 3.9 million,” according to CNBC.

The free-fall can be seen, even with revisions, from 672 jobs  in September and 638 in October for the number of jobs added. And,  despite a gain of 11.6 million, there remains 21 million jobs lost to the effects of the pandemic.

In fact, the labor force participation rate has decreased from 61.7 to 61.5; many of which have hit workers of prime age, those between 25 years to 54 years old, which has decreased from baseline measures of 81.2 in October.

Taking a closer look it’s easy to see that King Covid, as some have dubbed it, has devastated even the effects of a lukewarm recovery, and this is clearly seen with the restaurant and beverage industry where after the earlier shutdowns in the Spring, led to a hiring bump with the warm weather, only to see an end to indoor dining, as colder weather approached, plus the loss of revenue from frequent carryout and delivery, that in many cases has not been enough to pay the rent and salaries of most restaurants.

While the leisure and hospitality field, overall, gained 31,000 jobs; it has yet to recover the 3.1 million jobs lost since February, and “retailers lost 35,000 jobs in November when stores typically load up on seasonal hires for the holiday shopping rush.”

Part of that loss of holiday hires has been due to fears of Covid, and especially from older Americans who have often been a large pool to draw from, for those jobs,and who are among the more vulnerable groups that fear exposure.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed optimistic on Friday that the House and Senate could soon reach a bipartisan agreement on an ever elusive pandemic stimulus deal after she and Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, agreed to try to find a common ground that could be worked into a large year end spending package.

“That would be our hope because that is the vehicle leaving the station,” Ms. Pelosi, Democrat of California, said at a news conference in the Capitol Friday morning, a day after her conversation with Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. The phone call marked their first conversation since the election,” also reported by The Hill.

The Dems have come down on their original price of $2.2 trillion dollars, and it also contains, at least initially, 300 billion to smaller businesses, $160 billion to state and local governments and the much anticipated, and needed extension of unemployment benefits, due to expire at the end of this year.

Also up for the challenge are the end of eviction moratorium, which community leaders have noted, puts many families at the risk of being on the streets,

November’s report also shows what was once a plus, now a minus: the decrease in women’s employment, which was a high less than three months ago, and even a surge this time last year, but now with more and more women, mostly wage earners, being out of work, due to Covid layoffs they have returned home. And, those who were white collar professionals found that with schools closed, made the decision to, become stay at home mothers, and help supervise remote learning for their children.

For women of color, often head of households the fall has been dramatic in areas that they tend to dominate and in education, in large cities 21,000 jobs have been lost overall, and for those concentrated in cities with large Black and Brown populations such as Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia, the exponential effect on working families is significant.

“This dynamic is perhaps most pronounced among Black workers — the only racial group with an unemployment rate above 10% even after months of economic improvement.

“Black unemployment is STILL nearly twice the white rate,” Gbenga Ajilore, senior economist at the Center for American Progress, said Friday in a tweet,” CNBC added.

For perspective they said: “Black or African-American workers had a jobless rate of 10.3% in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, White workers had a 5.9% rate. Asian workers had a 6.7% jobless rate while Hispanic or Latino workers had an 8.4% rate.”

Airlines who suffered the early effects of the pandemic are now facing some hard choices and Southwest Airlines announced on Friday that unless the union would agree to concessions, 7,000 workers would lose their jobs, nearly 10 percent of the workforce.

Most bachelor's degrees in America are awarded to women, and the resulting brain drain from the corporate office of those who decided to stay at home has made a slight bump in temporary workers, but at a higher hourly wage, this may not be a mainstay.

Some light was seen with an increase of 46,000 for health care workers, and 27,000 customer service jobs, with some expected due to online shoppers, of 145,000 transportation and warehouse jobs, but with the exception of the latter most are tenuous at best, without Congressional help.

“This is an ugly report,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist for the accounting firm Grant Thornton, whose ranking was perhaps the most honest of those economists interviewed in the national media.

Updated Dec. 6, 2020