Homebase is a cloud-based application that provides scheduling and time-tracking services for over 100,000 small businesses in the U.S. As such, the firm has a unique window into the impact the coronavirus recession is having upon hourly workers at U.S. small businesses.
They have produced an interactive chart reveals what their national level data has tracked since 4 March 2020, which is complete through the pay periods ending two weeks ago. If you're accessing this article on a site that republishes our RSS news feed, you may want to click through to our site to see the chart in its full-scale, big screen glory.
They also visualize their data for major cities, states and various small business types, so you can compare regions and also find out which kinds of small businesses are bouncing back the fastest and which are still well below their pre-coronavirus recession levels.
The national level data indicates the bottom of the coronavirus recession for hourly workers at Homebase's client businesses came on 12 April 2020, with over 50% of locations closed nationwide and over 60% reductions from pre-coronavirus epidemic levels for both number of employees working and number of hours worked. That decline occurred rapidly over a month long period.
Since then, a recovery has been taking place more slowly, with the metrics of hourly employees working, business locations open, and hours worked now about 20% below their pre-coronavirus recession levels through the beginning of July 2020. The trend has been flattening out in recent weeks, coinciding with the increased spread of coronavirus infections in states experiencing a delayed first wave of cases.
HT: Greg Mankiw.