Economic Recovery After COVID-19

Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on the global economy. After the 2007–2009 Global Financial Crisis, it took more than six years for the economy to return to normal. The question is, “How long will it take to recover?”

Unlike other recessions, the one caused by the Coronavirus was sudden and extreme. Nearly 22 million jobs were cut in the early months of the pandemic. However, 12 million jobs have already been brought back. The issue lies within recovering the other 10 million jobs, which could take years. 

Although there has been a huge rebound, there is still a long way to go. Spreading the COVID-19 vaccine to more of the population would help the economy. Fortunately, more than 2 million Americans are now receiving the vaccine each day. Thus, COVID-19 cases are decelerating and hospitalizations have drastically declined. Another benefit is the 1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package that the Senate passed which provides direct checks for countless Americans. Reducing the spread of COVID-19 will certainly help with the recovery of the economy. 

The vaccine rollout and lowering cases are most likely the reason why forecasters from the National Association for Business Economics say that the economy will return to its pre-pandemic level by late 2021. This is a drastic improvement from a couple of months ago when most of them did not think that full recovery could occur before 2022.

All things considered, the COVID-19 vaccine has played a huge part in the speed of the economy’s recovery. Hopefully, the economy will return to normal by the end of this year.