May 13, 2020
Coronavirus shuttered 48% of Worcester County's small businesses, dropped revenues 43%
Photo | Grant Welker
Meze Estiatorio, a Worcester restaurant, has temporarily closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
By Grant Welker
Almost half of small businesses in Worcester County have closed at least temporarily during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis by a team of researchers led by Harvard University.
That data — that 47.9% of small businesses in the region are shuttered — is one of a series pointing to the economic devastation resulting from the outbreak. Hours worked by those employed by small businesses are down 71%, and revenue at such businesses is down 42.6% compared to January.
Small-business employees in Worcester County are earning 72% less than they did in January, a greater fall than the Massachusetts average of 58.7%. Worcester County residents are also rarely leaving their houses to go shopping or dining out as well, with such traffic down 42% from January, the analysis found.
Researchers at Harvard, Brown University and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation used a range of data sources, including firms that track virtual work scheduling and time-tracking tools, commercial transactions data, and consumer purchasing information.
Job postings in major metropolitan areas are also way down, the researchers found. In the Boston area, it's a drop of 39%. Nationally, it's 36%.
Such data is the latest to show how much the economy has been brought to virtually a halt during the pandemic.
In Massachusetts, 778,000 workers have filed new unemployment claims in the seven weeks since mandated closures of non-essential businesses first went into effect. Retail, health and social assistance, and food and accommodation jobs have been hardest hit, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
In April, the national unemployment rate hit 14.7%, the highest since during the Great Depression, with more than 20 million workers filing for unemployment. The Massachusetts unemployment rate for April is due to be released May 22.
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