economy

Local economies across America struggled through 2020. The coronavirus pandemic brought many businesses to a grinding halt and has kept many people out of a job.

UW-Milwaukee professor and chair of the economics department Scott Adams says Milwaukee is struggling along with everyone else and is not doing much better or worse than comparable cities. 

For months, the state Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has been criticized for its backlog of unpaid unemployment claims. Currently, it's at more than 35,000. That's a reduction from nearly 400,000 last summer. The backlog led to the resignation of the department's secretary, Caleb Frostman, in September.

The city of Kenosha is in the national spotlight after Jacob Blake was shot seven times by a police officer. Since then, the city has seen nightly protests, buildings set on fire, tear gas and two protesters shot to death. 

As of Thursday, Milwaukee County has had more than 17,100 cases of COVID-19 and 374 deaths from the virus.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley says that while the greatest impact of COVID-19 is on human life, it’s also impacting finances. He says the impact of the coronavirus could total near $300 million in lost jobs, reopening costs and service needs.

Nearly half the Wisconsin small businesses that applied for a federally-funded grant triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic were initially rejected. But state officials hope more firms will still get into the program known as We're All In.     

Wisconsin's unemployment rate dropped from 13.6% in April to 12% in May, a “nice surprise” that reflects just the very beginning of the state's reopening after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the governor's stay-at-home order.

Many of us are about 12 weeks into being cooped up at home. Well, if we’ve followed public health guidelines to limit contact with other people. And even though the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the state's safer-at-home order, the local hotel and Airbnb industry is still feeling the effects of people taking social distancing seriously.

Wisconsin economic development leaders say they're still about 10 days from accepting applications for $75 million in federal grants to small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. But state officials also say they're working on the right message for independent-minded Wisconsin.

More than half a million people in Wisconsin have filed for unemployment since the coronavirus outbreak, according to the latest figures from the Department of Workforce Development. But many have yet to get relief. The state has yet to pay 16% of claims.

Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Caleb Frostman says the backlog is due to the sheer volume of claims, shortage of staffing, and antiquated technology.

COVID-19 restrictions for businesses continue to differ across southeastern Wisconsin, depending on where the companies are located. Some communities are only offering recommendations for reducing the spread of the coronavirus. Other cities have kept orders.

Some of the greatest remaining differences are for the bar and restaurant industry.

“A live experiment.” 

That's what a local business leader says we're in after this week's state Supreme Court ruling throwing out Wisconsin's safer-at-home restrictions for the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent decisions by Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to maintain many limits. In contrast, Waukesha County says it's only issuing health recommendations for its businesses, not orders.

More Wisconsin hospitals are again offering services that were shut down while health care facilities focused on treating COVID-19 patients and urged the delay of non-urgent treatment.

We're now getting a better idea of what the loss of those other patients cost the health care industry.

Updated at 2:44 p.m. CT

Gov. Tony Evers on Monday allowed nearly all nonessential retail stores to reopen as long as they serve no more than five customers at a time, partially lifting the restriction that has kept them closed for weeks to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Outbreaks in the meat industry aren't new. In the early '90s, mad cow disease was a trade problem that affected the entire industry, halting the sale of beef worldwide. Then a large outbreak of bird flu in early 2013 was a pathogenic problem that led to thousands of birds being euthanized.

Coronavirus is a different challenge for the meat industry since it affects plants' high concentration of workers. Some meat plants have about 1,200 workers, and they're at greater risk of getting COVID-19 because they're often standing elbow-to-elbow while working.

People eligible for unemployment benefits are starting to see an extra $600 a week from the federal government. That's due to Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, which is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. 

People who receive regular unemployment insurance, pandemic unemployment compensation, work share or trade readjustment allowances are eligible for the additional $600.