The economy just finished the second quarter coming off the second strongest growth rate since 1978. The powerful post-pandemic reopening boost is still unfolding. But the rapid reopening has brought with it a host of problems, highlighting the fact that the road to normalcy is unlikely to be smooth.
How has the pandemic affected the business climate, and what’s on the horizon for the local economy the remainder of the year? Bob Rose, Brookline Bank’s Chief Credit Officer talks about the top economic issues facing the region with Ann Murphy, at Seven Letter Associates. OA On Air · EXTRA:
Americans are as flexible as they are resilient, so it comes as no surprise that they are efficiently adapting to a post-pandemic world. For sure, the health crisis has not been entirely vanquished.
The economic environment is ripe for naïve and misguided narratives. Taken at face value, the latest reports on jobs, consumer prices, and retail sales suggest that the U.S. is in the grips of a jobless recovery and a stalling economy that is weighed down, by worrisome inflationary pressures.
COVID-19 has affected the world in many ways. One significant impact was a large majority of the workforce, moving their work stations to their homes. In this week’s edition of OA on Air, Pat King, Brookline Bank’s Information Security Officer, talks to Seven Letter Partner, Ann Murphy about the importance
The well-telegraphed heat wave in economic activity is underway. Most key economic data for March exceeded expectations, punctuating a quarter that turned out to be considerably stronger than anyone predicted earlier in the period.
Spring has sprung, and the season of hope is resonating throughout the economy. After suffering a 3.5 percent contraction in 2020 – the steepest since demobilization in 1946 – real GDP is poised to surge as much as 7 percent this year, which would rival the biggest annual gains since World War II.
We asked our President & CEO, Darryl Fess, to answer a few questions about what he believes will impact businesses and the economy in Greater Boston, including the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic, remote work environment, changes in banking sector, horizons for commercial real estate, Brookline Bank’s 150th Anniversary. There
The bleak economic landscape that prevailed in the closing months of 2020 has not faded from the collective memory of the American public. With the pandemic still claiming too many lives and the economy still reeling from business restrictions and virus fears that hamper normal behavior, the lingering effects cannot be ignored.
Brookline Bank’s EVP of Retail and Business Banking, Leslie Joannides-Burgos discusses how, as an essential service, the bank has remained open through the Covid-19 pandemic. Hear how Brookline Bank adapted daily operations to continue to meet customers’ needs, while providing a safe environment for both customers and employees. Leslie’s interview
It’s shaping up to be a cold winter for the U.S. economy, as the pandemic continues to rampage throughout the nation and wreak havoc on all forms of activity that involves in-person transactions. State and local governments are tightening business restrictions and urging residents to more diligently adhere to social distancing protocols.
We’ve always said that the health crisis would determine the path of the economy, and the latest news on the pandemic is concerning. Cases of the virus, hospitalization and mortality rates have surged to unfathomable levels, and health experts believe this distressing trend will accelerate after the holidays.
Like his former boss, President Barack Obama, Joe Biden will be inheriting a damaged economy when he takes office on January 20, 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic has not only sent the nation into its deepest recession since the 1930s, it is leaving indelible scars that will restrain activity for some time to come.
To say that uncertainty is rising would be an understatement. Political and policy uncertainties are surging with questions surrounding the next round of fiscal aid, questions around the outcome of the elections, questions around a peaceful transfer of power
Despite being portrayed as dismal scientists, we economists are not always pessimistic about economic prospects. In fact, we are happy to report that things are looking up in many respects.
The rebound in jobs, production and consumer spending in recent months strongly indicates that the recovery from the harsh Covid-19 recession is underway.
Just as government-mandated lockdowns sent the economy into a tailspin in March and April, the lifting of restrictions and the reopening of businesses propelled activity higher in May and June.
The healing process has begun. With important economic data for May now in the books, it looks like the economy hit bottom in April.
The coronavirus recession has hit the U.S. with tremendous force. Following the sizeable 4.8 percent contraction in GDP during the first quarter – putting an end to the longest expansion on record—activity is poised to plunge by a depression-like 30-40 percent annual rate in the second quarter.
The Covid-19 recession continues to wreak havoc on all sectors of the U.S. economy. Assuming 10-12 weeks of social-distancing and shelter-in-home restrictions from mid-March, the economy is poised to suffer the worst contraction during the second quarter than any time World War 11.
It won’t be confirmed for at least several months, but the U.S. is almost certainly hurtling into a recession. A little over a month ago, when the Covid-19 coronavirus first hit the headlines we, along with most economists, thought the nation could weather the storm if proper policies were quickly implemented
During this record-long expansion, now in its eleventh year, the economy has struggled through seven episodes in which its growth engine has downshifted sharply – to about 1 percent or less for a given quarter.
The economy ended 2019 with a bit more momentum than expected, as consumers ramped up spending and home construction soared to a 13- year high in December.
As the curtain rings down on 2019, the year will be remembered for a number of hits and misses. Perhaps the biggest hit is that the economy completed a marathon, having outlasted all previous expansions by at least six months and still going.
