Jul 13, 2020 - Economy & Business

U.S. budget deficit reached all-time high of $864 billion in June

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The U.S. budget deficit reached $864 billion in June as Congress allocated trillions to help cushion the damage from the coronavirus recession and massive job losses reduced tax revenues, the Treasury Department said in its latest monthly report.

The big picture: It took 10 months last year for the country's budget deficit to reach roughly the same amount, at $866.8 billion. June's new high is the "biggest monthly budget deficit in history," per AP.

What's happening: Nearly half of the $1.1 trillion in outlays made by the government last month went to small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program, the Wall Street Journal reports.

  • Real-time economic data has shown investors that business activity across the U.S. is stalling or declining even as states reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • New unemployment applications have fallen steadily since peaking in March, but the number is still historically higher than before the pandemic hit.

Go deeper: Cash can't fix the economy's problems until the coronavirus is curbed

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Oriana Gonzalez
Oct 20, 2020 - Health

California issues more rigid COVID-19 guidelines for theme park re-openings

Photo: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

California health officials on Tuesday told theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood that they can reopen once daily coronavirus cases in their respective counties drop below one per 100,000 people.

Why it matters: Disney and Universal, both of which hoped to reopen when their counties reached "moderate" spread, have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. Deadline reported that Universal Studios Hollywood laid off over 2,200 employees since July and Disney laid off 28,000 employees in September.

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Marisa Fernandez
Oct 21, 2020 - Health

CDC: Two-thirds of excess deaths were from COVID-19

Helath care worker in ICU. Photo: Mark Felix/AFP /AFP via Getty Images

About 285,000 more people have died in the U.S. than anticipated, and 66% of those fatalities were due to COVID-19, a report out Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

By the numbers: The deaths, recorded between Feb. 1 and Sept. 16, disproportionately affect Latinx and Black Americans. The "excess death" rate among 25-to-44 year-olds is also up about 27% from previous years.

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Caitlin Owens, author of Vitals
Oct 21, 2020 - Health

Studies show drop in COVID death rate

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

There's been a sharp drop in mortality rates among hospitalized coronavirus patients, including older patients and those with pre-existing health conditions, per two new peer-reviewed studies.

By the numbers: One study that looked at a single health system found that hospitalized patients had a 25.6% chance of dying at the start of the pandemic, but now have only a 7.6% chance, NPR reports.

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