Economic impact

Williams’ business is one of nearly 70 U.S. Coca-Cola “bottlers” - third-party, independent companies that put Coke and other beverages into cans and bottles and deliver the drinks to retailers and restaurants in every corner of the country. The future of such companies is not only critical for their owners and employees, but also key for their main supplier - Coca-Cola, the world’s No.1 soft drink maker - which needs them to flourish to help it recover from a slump in sales.

Over the past 13 years, Audible has made an effort to integrate itself into the Newark community. When the pandemic struck, it doubled down.

The S&P 500 and Dow closed lower on Thursday after data painted a worrying economic picture on a crucial day for corporate earnings reports, while President Donald Trump exacerbated investor nervousness by floating the possibility of delaying the U.S. presidential election.

The U.S. economy suffered its worst period ever in the second quarter, with GDP falling a historic 32.9%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were looking for a decline of 34.7%. Neither the Great Depression nor the Great Recession nor any other slump over the past two centuries have ever caused such a sharp drain on the economy.

The Labor Department said initial weekly jobless claims last week came in at 1.434 million. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected claims to rise to 1.45 million. It was the 19th straight week in which initial claims totaled at least 1 million and the second consecutive week in which initial claims rose after declining for 15 straight weeks.

The unemployment rate in New York rose to 20.4% in June, even as the broader country’s improved. Los Angeles had a 19.5% jobless rate. The unemployment rate is a measure of financial hardship for American families. There is no official definition of an economic “depression.” An unemployment rate near or above 20% is one good indicator, according to some economists.

The biggest US banks are setting aside billions of dollars to deal with toxic loans as support from the government falls off in the months ahead, a sign that some of the worst economic damage from the pandemic is still to come.

Wall Street’s main indexes looked set to open lower on Tuesday following the benchmark S&P 500’s longest streak of gains this year as investors weighed the risks to the economy from tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases nationwide.

“The situation is really fluid. And it changes day by day,” Jeff Gennette, Macy’s chief executive, told investors this week on an earnings call. The same could be said of the entire U.S. economy, which has defied the most pessimistic forecasts yet still faces an uncertain trek back to its former heights. With the unemployment rate at 11.1 percent, worse than at any point during the Great Recession, and output continuing to decline, the healing could go on for years.

"Pandemic pricing," as some agents call it, has arrived across the country as landlords react to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. With many people either losing their jobs or working from home due to the shutdowns, many tenants have chosen to leave their apartments behind in major US cities.