Pfizer has begun to roll out its COVID-19 vaccine after the Food and Drug Administration authorized it for emergency use on Dec. 11. About 2.9 million doses of the vaccine, developed by Pfizer and the biotech company BioNTech, were sent to locations around the U.S. during the first week of delivery.A second vaccine, developed by Moderna, was granted FDA approved for emergency use last Friday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ senior official for infectious diseases, said that with the vaccines, we could begin to reach the early stages of herd immunity by late spring or summer. That’s when economic experts think we might start to see some economic recovery, provided enough people opt to take the vaccine. But going back to full employment is likely going to take several years, cautioned Daniel Bachman, senior manager with Deloitte Services LP.
In the most optimistic scenario, we could see a normalization of activity — think being able to head back to work — by April or May, said Bachman. But most likely, it’ll be over the summer.
That’s also when Ryan Demmer, an associate professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota said he thinks business at places like restaurants, which were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic, will begin to pick up again.
“There might be masking and distancing and precautions in place, but I think things will be much more open” by mid-summer, Demmer said.
The restaurant industry has been in dire straits, with some regions in the U.S. imposing bans on outdoor dining and other regions facing blustery weather conditions that make outdoor dining difficult.
Jerome Jaggernath, who’s worked as a cashier at the New York City restaurant Black Burger for several years, said the business is just trying to survive the winter as sales have declined.
“Suffice to say, we’ve been struggling. So far, we’ve been, you know, head above water,” Jaggernath said.
Daniel Zhao, senior economist for Glassdoor, said he thinks there is a case for cautious optimism about the economy.
“If the vaccine does reach widespread public availability, there are some economic indicators which point to a faster recovery in 2021,” Zhao said.
He said that data on Glassdoor shows that job openings are down roughly 10% below pre-crisis levels.
“That’s actually a very accelerated recovery relative to what we saw after the Great Recession,” Zhao noted. “After the Great Recession, job openings dropped by over half. And it wasn’t until several years later that demand for new workers actually recovered to pre-Great Recession levels.”
Zhao said that some sectors will take longer to return back to normal activity than others, like live events.
“I think even if it becomes fully safe to do so, to return to large live events by the end of 2021, people will be hesitant just because of the recent pandemic,” Zhao said. “There are going to be psychological barriers for people to fully return to pre-pandemic activity.”
Congress’ next steps for a relief package is going to have an effect on the economy as well. Republicans and Democrats agreed on Sunday to a $900 billion relief deal that will include $600 payments to individuals making $75,000 a year or less, and an extra $300 a week in unemployment benefits for 11 weeks. It won’t include direct aid or state and local governments, nor the Republican-led stipulation that would prevent businesses from getting sued for their response to the coronavirus.
Heidi Shierholz with the Economic Policy Institute told Marketplace that the economy is backsliding without more stimulus spending to help shore up state and local government budgets.
“What happens in recessions is state and local governments see a big drop in revenues, because people have less money to spend,” Shierholz said. “Unless the federal government steps in to fill in their budget shortfalls, they have to make big cuts.”
She said that after the Great Recession, Congress didn’t provide enough relief to state and local governments, which meant they had to make big cuts.
Which essential workers should be prioritized for vaccines?
Americans have started to receive doses of the first COVID-19 vaccine. Front-line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities will be first to get the shots, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. Essential workers will be considered next, but with limited vaccine doses and a lot of workers considered essential, the jockeying has already started over which ones should go to the front of the line: meatpacking workers, pilots, bankers and ride-share drivers among them. The CDC will continue to consider how to best distribute the vaccine, but ultimately it’s up to each state to decide who gets the shots when.
Could relaxing patents help poorer countries get vaccines faster?
The Pfizer vaccine has to be kept in extreme cold at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit. And keeping it that cold requires dry ice. Where does that dry ice come from?
Also, is there enough of it to go around? And how much is it going to cost? The demand for dry ice is about to spike, and a whole bunch of industries are worried. Now, dry ice sells for $1 to $3 a pound. While the vaccine gets priority, smaller businesses and nonessential industries may end up losing out.
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OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.
Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.
Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”
The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.
Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.
“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”
Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.
Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.
Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.
B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.
The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.
“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”
Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.
Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.
The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.
Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.
Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.
NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.
But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.
He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.
Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.
Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
