As part of BRAC’s business recovery priorities, we will be producing and distributing a weekly economic indicator dashboard to examine and assess the impact of COVID-19 on the regional economy. The indicator dashboard takes into account a number of data points to illustrate the economy’s current state, and to keep businesses informed until it begins to steady and as it rebounds. Dashboards will be archived on brac.org/recovery.
Key takeaways from this week’s report include:
- Initial unemployment claims have climbed for four consecutive weeks, indicating that the extended period of stay-at-home has still not had its full effect on the regional economy;
- Hotels continue to see a decrease in occupancy and revenues, which has led to massive reductions in staffing;
- While the stay-at-home order has caused a reduction in retail and recreation mobility, a high percentage of people in the Capital Region have essential jobs that require them to travel to work;
- Capital Region parishes with heavy industry and high percentages of essential employees have displayed a correlation to higher mortality rates.