The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Thursday related to national and global response, the work place and the spread of the virus.
TRAVEL & LODGING: All aspects of travel, road, rail and air, have been transformed during the pandemic. Many hotels remain vacant.
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The airlines, which have already won billions of euros in bailouts from the French and Dutch governments, expect some resumption of summer travel, but numbers will still likely be down 80% in the third quarter.
— The nation’s biggest union of airline pilots is pushing for federal regulations covering the cleaning of airplanes.
— About 60% of Hilton hotels worldwide — or around 950 properties — have suspended operations. However, global occupancy levels, which slumped to 13% in March, have reached 23%. Nearly all of the 150 hotels closed in
HOUSING: The real estate market was still cruising in the spring, but the virus has almost shut down activity in the sector.
— Mortgage credit availability fell in April, as lending standards tightened. It's the second consecutive month in retreat. The Mortgage Credit Availability Index dropped by 12.2% to 133.5 last month, according to a Thursday report from the
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RELIEF CHECKS: The
Due to a lag in reporting data, some of the more than 130 million economic impact payments that went out to taxpayers as part of an economic relief package were sent to people who are dead. In the case of couples who file jointly, only the portion of payment sent to the deceased needs to be repaid. The
CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS & BANKS: Countries are trying to keep their economies afloat while, at the same time, addressing the needs of millions of the newly unemployed.
— Norway’s central bank is dropping a key interest policy rate to 0% after another 0.25 percentage points cut.
The oil-rich country will cut production by 250,000 barrels per day in June, and by 134,000 barrels per day in the second half of 2020.
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— Turkey’s currency has dropped to an all-time low against the dollar as the country navigates plunging economic activity. The Turkish lira has lost 18% of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year.
— The Czech Republic’s central bank has lowered its key interest rate by a three quarter-point to 0.25% to help reduce the impact of the pandemic on the economy.
Thursday’s move comes after the bank cut the rate twice in March.
— Regional governors in
MARKETS: — Stocks climbed on
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