Kameleon007/iStock(NEW YORK) — The coronavirus pandemic has quickly become not only a health care crisis but a financial one, shuttering businesses, upending industries and sending financial markets reeling.
Here’s the latest news on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the economy. For more on financial resources available during the pandemic, click here.
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Markets uptick slightly early Friday
U.S. financial markets ticked up slightly as market’s opened Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 1.2%.
The S&P 500 was up 1.5% and the Nasdaq rose by 0.8%.
News on Thursday of further intervention from the Federal Reserve possibly contributed to the early gains Friday.
Unprecedented volatility has roiled Wall Street for weeks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
IMF anticipates worst economic fallout since the Great Depression
In a preview of its World Economic Outlook event next week, the International Monetary Fund says the world should be prepared for the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression.
“Today we are confronted with a crisis like no other. COVID-19 has disrupted our social and economic order at lightning speed and on a scale that we have not seen in living memory,” Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, said in a statement Thursday.
Three months ago, the IMF said it expected at least 160 countries would see positive per capita income growth in 2020. As of Thursday, the organization now predicts over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year.
“The bleak outlook applies to advanced and developing economies alike. This crisis knows no boundaries. Everybody hurts,” Georgieva said. “In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression.”
In the U.S., more than 16 million people have filed for unemployment insurance in just three weeks, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.
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