COVID & Our Money: By The Numbers - a podcast by Ben Jackson

All the numbers you need to know about how COVID has impacted our money.

The first number today is 26 Million. That is the number of Americans that have filed for unemployment over the past 5 weeks. And I think that is a pretty amazing number when you consider that between November 2009 and January of 2020 where our economy added 22 Million jobs to the payroll. In just 4 weeks during this pandemic, all of those 22 Million added jobs were whipped away and now another 4.5 Million Americans are without work. Going back to the adjectives, what is staggering is just how fast all of this happened. They are projecting the unemployment number will rise to 27 Million or about one million more people from where we are today by the third quarter of this year. That will make the unemployment rate about 14% and just 8 weeks ago in February it was 3.5%. So wow.  What can you do?  Feed your emergency savings, know your resources, update your resume and scan for opportunities just in case.

The next number is $3.7 Trillion. That is the projected federal budget deficit we will see by the end of September. The deficit was only about $1 Trillion in the last 12 months at the end of this March. It doesn’t have to be said but I will anyway, that is so much freaking money and so much debt! A budget deficit just means that our government is spending more money than it is taking in.  What does this mean?  Potentially increased taxes or inflation, or both!  What can you do?  Get a handle on your spending and find ways to supplement your income.  

13% is the next number. This is the increase in fraudulent attempted transactions online by criminals in March 2020. And the 13% is expected to continue to rise the longer the pandemic continues. This number is only counting attempted online account fraud which is a ripe opportunity for bad guys because so many more people are shopping online due to social distancing. What this number does not address is the number of scammers trying to get people’s IRS stimulus payments because we don’t have that number quantified. Phishing scams are also on the rise as are people setting up fake charities and requesting relief and donations. I’m not even going to talk about the number of fake remedies to cure COVID that are blowing up social media. The bottom line is bad times bring out the bad guys who use fear and uncertainty to try to prey on people. So first, be skeptical of phone calls and emails about your IRS payments or orders you may have placed. Make sure you hover your cursor over links in emails before clicking to make sure they don’t have weird web addresses. Additionally, consider changing your passwords to banking institutions and online shopping sites where you store credit card information.

The last number for today is 2021. Specifically second quarter of 2021. This is the estimate for how long it is projected we could be practicing some degree of social distancing in our working and social lives. This was also from the Wall Street Journal and when I read that I was pretty floored. That just seems so long from now but it will be necessary because the experts think that the virus is going to come back again, potentially in several waves over the next one year forcing us to keep our distance like we are doing today.  What can you do about it? I think just be mentally prepared. Maybe we will have windows of time where things get relatively back to normal, but I am preparing to have more stretches of working from home and not being able to see my friends and family in person. And I hate that but we have to deal with this new normal.  Also, know your resources.  Your company may provide mental health resources, sometimes called EAP or provide counseling programs.  If not, check out NAMI for more info on counseling resources available to you and your family.

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