COVID-19: Need-to-Know News from
the USA
U.S. Employers Cut 701,000 Jobs in March
Why Share It: Today’s U.S. job numbers do not fully reflect the damage the virus already has done to the economy. America’s coming labor-market collapse could shed all of the U.S. jobs added by employers in the past decade and push the unemployment rate to record highs.
Google Offers User Location Data to Health Officials Tackling Coronavirus
The Wall Street Journal
Why Share It: Perhaps tracking data, such as what Google will be giving to the U.S. government to track individuals’ movement, will help countries control the pandemic ---- but at what privacy cost? Other companies are also providing location data to government officials … but Google controls perhaps the most detailed dossiers on smartphone and internet users.
A new American coronavirus consensus
Axios
Why Share It: As Axios succinctly puts it: “Something surprising is unfolding amid the finger-pointing and war-gaming about the coronavirus threat to America: A general consensus is forming about the next 60 days of wait and pain.”
U.S. Plant Workplaces Emerge as Coronavirus Battlegrounds
The Wall Street Journal
Why Share It: Fearful and exhausted, U.S. workers are becoming increasingly vocal about concerns over safety conditions at worksites. Rising worker unrest could spread across the U.S. economy, while some policymakers consider possible new federal worker safety guidelines regarding working during pandemics.
