During April 2020, the first full month of the pandemic, the United States experienced an additional 2.4 deaths per 10,000 individuals<\/a> beyond predictions based on historical mortality trends. This was a 33% increase in all-cause national mortality \u2014 deaths caused directly or indirectly by the coronavirus.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a weak correlation between increased mortality rates and negative economic impact across states. There were states that experienced significant employment displacement but no additional mortality, for example. On the other hand, there were states that experienced large mortality impacts but modest economic impacts.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n These additional deaths during the early days of the pandemic were highly concentrated in older age groups and in a few states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent research examined the relationship between the pandemic\u2019s mortality and economic impacts across different age groups and geography.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a devastating loss of life but it has also devastated the nation’s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similar to the excess mortality concept<\/a>, the pandemic\u2019s economic impact is calculated by taking the difference between what is expected (based on historical trends) and what actually happens during a given period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ratio of employment to population is one measure of economic activity that shows the share of population 16 years and older working full- or part-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This measure closely tracks other possible measures of economic activity such as unemployment rate, percent of population with unemployment insurance claims, consumer spending, and small business employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Declines in the employment-to-population ratio that exceeded predictions indicate there was additional employment loss in the country due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decline in the employment-to-population ratio in the United States in April 2020 was significant. Historical trends predicted a 61.3% ratio but it turned out to be 51.5%. This additional national decline was 9.9 per 100 individuals in April 2020 (Figure 1). That means there were fewer people employed than was expected before the pandemic.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nEconomic Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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