Slide 1, Introduction.
Today I am going to talk about the article Omicron’s Economic Toll: Missing Workers, More
Uncertainty and Higher Inflation, written by Ben Cassel/man and Sydney Ember. This is an
article from The New York Times.
Slide 2: Forecasts.
The Omicron wave of the coronavirus appears to be cresting around the world. But its
economic disruptions have made a post pandemic normal ever more elusive. Economic
forecasters have slashed their estimates for economic growth in the first three months of
2022. Some expect January to show the first monthly decline in employment in more than a
year. And retail sales and manufacturing production fell in December, suggesting that the
impact began well before cases hit their peak.
Slide 3, Economic Impacts.
The impact first began in the global stock market. For example in March 2020, the
Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war, which after failing to reach an OPEC agreement resulted
in a collapse of crude oil prices and a stock market crash and during mid January 2022 with
the S&P 500 plunging nearly 4 percent before recovering its losses. Market analysts believe
the early declines reflected fears that the Federal Reserve might need to respond more
aggressively than expected to rapidly rising prices, a prospect that some economists say has
been made more likely by Omicron. In addition to that, global supply problems have been
slower to dissipate, and in some cases have gotten worse as production and shipping
backlogs have grown. If Omicron follows the same pattern, limiting the supply of goods and
workers while doing little to dent consumers’ willingness to spend, it could lead to faster
inflation.
Slide 4, Unemployment rate due to COVID-19.
Apart from that, the latest Covid surge is also the first to hit after the expiration of enhanced
unemployment benefits, the expanded child tax credit and most other emergency federal aid
programs. Nearly a quarter of private-sector workers get no paid sick time, meaning that
even a temporary absence from work could force them to cut back spending now that
government benefits aren’t replacing lost income. Differences in COVID-19 related job and
income losses were most pronounced by age. Young adults between the ages of 18 to 24
experienced job or income losses nearly twice as much as older age groups. More than 8.7
million Americans weren’t working in late December and early January because they had
Covid-19 or were caring for someone who did, according to the latest estimate from the
Census Bureau’s experimental Household Pulse Survey. Another 5.3 million were taking
care of children who were home from school or daycare. The cumulative impact is larger
than at any other point in the pandemic.
Slide 5, Recovery Plans.
Recovery prospects in the longer run are uncertain. temporary job losses could force
consumers to pull back their spending, especially federal programs that helped families early
in the pandemic have largely ended. Economists worry that Omicron could compound
supply-chain backlogs both in the United States and overseas, prolonging the recent bout of
high inflation. With each successive wave, however, the impact on demand has gotten
smaller. Businesses and consumers learned to adapt. Federal aid helped prop up people’s
income. And more recently, the availability of vaccines and improved treatment options have
made many people comfortable resuming more normal activities.
Slide 6, Discussion Questions.
Now for the discussion question,
What do you think the government should do to benefit workers who have lost their job
during the pandemic?
How did COVID-19 change the global economy?
Slide 6 & 7, Work Cited & Conclusion.
These are my work cited and the end, thank you.