|
In October 2009 unemployment was 10.4% or 10.5% which was the peak.
What could happen here, assuming the government doesn't cancel rent, is all the service sector employees who have had their jobs closed (restaurants, bars, bands, amusement parks, childcare, nonessential retail, etc) will be unable to pay rent and get evicted en masse which could lead to severe social disruption. That's why Mnuchin wants to give everyone around $1200 a month for a couple months, but it seems like it's getting stalled by the usual bickering in Congress right now.
Those people, once the lockdowns end, aren't going to be going out for dinner or to see the next Marvel film. They're going to be scrambling to find a place to live if they were evicted. The rent money will of course get siphoned into the hands of the rich and a bunch of REITs and will never be seen again. The recovery will be slow because we won't have much in the way of discretionary consumer spending for a while, until everyone gets back on their feet and can afford to do things again.
|