Urban Wire

Local Newspapers and Other Small Businesses Are Still Struggling. What Can Policymakers Do?

Many businesses overlooked or excluded from PPP funds, such as local newspapers, still need assistance to weather their pandemic-related shortfalls.

Sign for a restaurant that permanently closed

Economic Growth and Productivity

State GDP Data Confirm We’re in a Very Different Kind of Recession

New data expose how the unique vulnerabilities of certain industries and workers have affected the economy in unprecedented ways.

Economic Growth and Productivity

GDP Declined at a Historic Rate in the Second Quarter, but the Shocks Aren’t Over

New shocks that are not already baked into last week’s report could mean more trouble ahead.

Man plays table games at a casino during COVID-19

Economic Growth and Productivity

The Leisure and Hospitality Sector Has an Employment Crisis—and It Might Be Getting Worse

Examining the ups and downs helps us understand not only how bad the economic effects of the pandemic have been over the past five months, but how much worse they may get.

Economic Growth and Productivity

Opportunity Lost with the Expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program

Adding money to a program with well-understood shortcomings risks deploying federal resources in a way that could even worsen economic inequality.

Economic Growth and Productivity

See the Initial Impacts of COVID-19 on State-by-State Employment and Earnings

Compare the trajectory of unemployment rates, employment totals (private and public), and earnings across states and time.

Economic Growth and Productivity

Increased CDBG Funding Only Works If Grantees Have Flexibility in How They Use It

To efficiently use increased housing and community development funding for COVID-19 relief efforts, communities need a willing and flexible partner in HUD.