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.

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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.

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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