As the economy moves into the second half of the year, economists expect to see a bounceback, but the resurgence in Covid-19 threatens to make that rebound less potent than expected.
More than a dozen states have now paused or rolled back some reopening activity. If the Covid outbreak gets worse, there is a bigger threat to the labor market, and the job gains in May and June could quickly turn to losses by July.
“If you’re a bar in Florida, or Texas, or California, how do you handle two shutdowns?” said Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays. “I was hopeful we would buy a little more time and get into the fall before the virus started picking up again.”
