By Michael Ge
On October 2nd at 12:54 AM, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he and his wife, Melania, had tested positive for COVID-19. The news came shortly after Trump announced that he and Melania would go into quarantine after Counselor to the President, Hope Hicks, had tested positive for COVID-19 after travelling with the President and First Lady.
The news sent the stock market falling. However, the fall was less than what some people were expecting. The DOW Jones dropped more than 250 points, and the NASDAQ dropped more than 100 points. While this decline is not necessarily great, the futures were pointing to a larger drop in the stock market. On the other hand, the stock of Regeneron rose by 3% after it was announced that Trump had taken the company’s COVID-19 treatment, which is still in the trial stage.
The unemployment rate was reported to be 7.9% for the month of September. This is a 0.5% decrease from August’s rate of 8.4%. This 7.9% figure was also lower than the expected rate of 8.2%. As the American economy continues its recovery from COVID-19, this trend will hopefully continue.
While the economy has made great strides in its recovery, the unemployment rate before the pandemic was 3.5% in February. Additionally, the unemployment rate is significantly higher among workers of color than white workers. Apart from that, governmental fields such as education are seeing declines in employment. But on the plus side, employment is increasing in the hospitality sector.
The reaction of the stock market seems to not be as bad as what was initially feared, and the unemployment rate is still decreasing. The American economy appears to be on the road to recovery, but it will most likely be a long way until it fully recovers to pre-COVID-19 levels.
