The Coronavirus Hit the U.S. Economy Swiftly and Unevenly

Live events and airlines are among the sectors suffering, as people switch to buying cushions and ordering food.

The impact of the coronavirus on the U.S. economy has been swift, dramatic and lopsided. 

Some sectors have experienced startling surges in demand (online grocery, web-conferencing, telemedicine), others near-fatal collapses (live events, airlines, car rentals).

The heatmaps below from SimilarWeb track the year-on-year changes in unique visits to websites across a variety of industries. Blue represents an above-average increase in web traffic; red represents an above-average decline.

They illustrate, for example, the impact of Black Friday and Cyber Monday on e-commerce; the spike of interest in jewelry around Valentine’s Day; and the flurry of clicks to job-search sites at the start of the new year.

Now, more than two months after President Trump declared a state of national emergency, some hard-hit U.S. sectors are showing signs of warming back up (fashion, jewelry and real-estate), and the growing popularity of other sectors (website-building) suggest the acceptance, at least in the medium term, of a new normal.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story:
Ben Schott at ben.schott.data@gmail.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Lara Williams at lwilliams218@bloomberg.net