Marketplace

We’re starting to get a picture of just how much damage the pandemic is doing to the economy: GDP fell 4.8% in the first quarter, and this is the beginning. Plus: Why businesses don’t see the point in applying for emergency loans, the power and limitations of OSHA, and Michael Schur talks about bringing back “Parks and Recreation.”

With China a little further along in restarting its economy, it might be reasonable to assume that a company whose supply chain is deeply intertwined with China might have a leg up right now. But it doesn’t really work that way. We’ll take a deep dive into those supply chains today. Plus, how Hollywood productions might work around COVID-19 and a conversation with the CEO of GoFundMe.

Banks began accepting applications for $320 billion in new emergency payroll protection loans this morning. Last time, the process was unclear and bottlenecked. How’d things go today? We spent the day calling banks and small businesses to find out. Plus: The view from Shanghai, surprising essential businesses and why the stock market is not the economy.

Throughout the economy, you’re seeing businesses pivot in response to COVID-19. Auto plants are making ventilators, distilleries are making hand sanitizer and many clothing retailers are making masks. Plus: that Congressional Budget Office report about how bad things will get, what happens when bodegas close down and love in the time of coronavirus.

With 27 million jobs vaporized in just five weeks, economists, analysts and other observers are realizing that quarterly and monthly economic data just isn’t cutting it anymore. Today, we look at how looking at the economy has changed. Plus: the need for more contact tracers, the states leading on small business loans and putting a dollar value on human life.

How’s your savings account looking? According to the data, not great. But it’s not your fault. Today, we’ll look at the cultural and economic forces that make Americans bad at saving money. Plus: how businesses are preparing to reopen, state funding in a crisis and Netflix is (surprise!) doing pretty well right now.

Home health care workers are fighting COVID-19 by trying to keep their clients out of emergency rooms, which sometimes means quarantining with them. Plus: Oil’s storage shortage, declining home sales and how we talk to each other on Venmo now.

U.S. crude oil prices plunged into negative territory today for the first time, falling to minus $37.63 per barrel. That’s possible because storage is the most valuable commodity in the commodity market. We’ll explain. Plus: how experts reckon with COVID-19’s impact on GDP and a conversation with a banker who’s giving small business loans.

China’s first-quarter GDP contracted for the first time since 1992, and a new survey shows more American executives seeing the two countries “decoupling” economically. Today we look at another dimension of the pandemic and what it means for global supply chains. Plus: what it’s like to run an unemployment insurance program right now.

Five million more people filed for unemployment insurance last week, bringing the total past 20 million for the month. But the real number is actually much higher. Today, we look at who isn’t counted. Plus, earnings season’s new “COVID metrics,” the New Yorkers not paying rent and the high delivery app fees squeezing restaurants.