In March the economy moved into Boom territory with revenues higher than 2019 levels and high expectations for future revenue growth. Businesses report X% higher revenues than at this time in 2019 and they expect revenues to steadily grow in the next few months. Despite the overall improvement in business conditions, there remains large dispersion across industries. Arts, entertainment, and recreation remain in recession territory, the transportation industry has transitioned to recovery, and the construction industry continues to boom. Businesses are optimistic for future growth. Even firms with current revenues below their 2019 revenues have high growth expectations. Finally, we continue to find that government support through loans have allowed businesses to refrain from shrinking their workforce and to hire additional workers.
Author(s): Mac Gaulin, Nathan Seegert, and Mu-Jeung Yang