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The Small Business Pulse Survey that describes information from businesses with one to 499 employees on things such as location closings, employment changes, disruptions in the supply chain, the use of federal assistance programs, and expectations concerning future operations, was a timely addition by the Census Bureau this year.
It continues to show the deadly effects of COVID-denial and incompetence among Trump Administration officials that is killing ever more Americans daily with no end in sight. At the very least it provides insight as to what relief is really needed even as Mitch McConnell and his band of Republican outlaws and traitors refuse to provide federal aid to people who plainly need it.
A tip of the AutoInformed racing helmet to Bureau employees for doing their jobs whilst under constant and ongoing attacks from the Republicans as well as COVID19. Help is on the way for some, but it took the election of President Biden to signal the beginning of the beginning of recovery on 20 January 2021 at noon. Better late than never. But for the suffering it’s small compensation for enduring a President who for four years based his actions in office on welfare for the rich and his own pockets ignoring the unemployed all the while being pampered, housed, fed and subsidized – by the taxpayers he disdains.
Is it any wonder the voters have spoken in a landslide against Trump?
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Historical Look at Unemployment Shows Magnitude of COVID-19 Impact on Economy
We know the COVID-19 pandemic has caused record job losses and transformed the nation’s employment landscape but recently released historical data tables put the magnitude of the economic disruption in clear context.
In 2017, for example, roughly 30 million adults experienced either an end of employment or a reduction in work hours, including both involuntary and voluntary job terminations. But only about 3.8 million collected Unemployment Insurance (UI), which is contingent on involuntary job termination, according to the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).
In contrast, roughly four times the number of people (115 million) had experienced a loss in employment income from the start of the pandemic in March 2020 through February 2021. As a result, roughly 10 times the number of people (37 million) qualified for and received UI during that period, according to the Census Bureau’s experimental Household Pulse Survey.
Economic Sectors
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on particular economic sectors like hospitality, which includes jobs in the arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation or food services.
In March and April of 2020 alone, 8.3 million people lost hospitality jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In contrast, SIPP data show that only about five million people lost jobs in the hospitality sector during all of 2017, not significantly different from job losses in 2013 – evidence that the pandemic has caused major disruptions to what had been a stable economic sector.
Need for Government Assistance
The SIPP data provide other important points of historical context.
In 2017, for example, roughly 16 million households received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, previously known as food stamps. Additionally, roughly 34 million children received school-provided meals, with 25 million relying on free or reduced-price school meals for their daily food needs.
Both SNAP and school meal programs have been granted emergency expansions to help combat pandemic-related financial hardships. There’s a clear need for such programs.
In the second half of February 2021, an estimated 26 million households reported receiving SNAP in the prior week, while almost 12 million households with children were estimated not to have enough to eat, according to the Household Pulse Survey. However, we don’t yet know exactly how many households or children the expanded programs have helped.
New SIPP historical tables provide annual data from 2013 to 2017 on the receipt of social security, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), SNAP, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), retirement income, job loss, unemployment insurance, free- and reduced-price school meals, veterans’ benefits, and child support. Future SIPP data releases will allow us to track program participation through the pandemic.
The Household Pulse Survey is ongoing and provides near real-time data about the circumstances of U.S. households amid the COVID-19 pandemic every two weeks.
Lindsay M. Monte is a statistician in the Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division of the Census Bureau.
” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Census Bureau Pulse Data