It is Not Just Tourism

The number of jobs lost is at a record pace in Rhode Island.  But it is not all hospitality and tourism job losses.

A new report released Monday shows Rhode Island's relative tourism pain did not make the list of the top ten states adversely impacted.

"As tourism suffers, workers will bear the brunt of the difficulty. According to data from the U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics, there could be as many as 5.9 million jobs lost due to declining travel by the end of April. However, the stimulus package signed by President Trump may provide some aid to the industry in the form of business loans, tax relief, and other financial support," reports WalletHub. 

Rhode Island ranks as the 12th hardest-hit state for loss of tourism jobs.

Big Banks Getting Hit

JPMorgan Chase’s profits fell by 69% in the first quarter as America’s largest bank prepares for a “fairly severe recession” by dramatically ramping up loan loss provisions.

According to the Financial Times, "The bank reported net income of almost $2.9B for the three months ended in March, down from about $9.2B a year earlier. Earnings per share of 78 cents were far worse than the $1.76 predicted by analysts contributing to a Bloomberg poll.

JPMorgan is known as one of the most conservative banks on Wall Street but the scale of the provisions sets a grim tone for the other big US banks reporting later this week."

Some Are Benefitting

One company reported higher earnings. 

"Johnson & Johnson’s profit for the first quarter shot up as the coronavirus health crisis drove demand for over-the-counter medicine, though it said it would see a decline in sales this year as it spends more in response to the pandemic," reports the Wall Street Journal.

J&J posted net income of $5.8 billion compared with $3.75 billion over the same quarter last year. 

Big selling products were Tylenol medicine and upper-respiratory products such as Zyrtec, rose 9.2% to $3.63 billion. The company has said that demand for Tylenol over-the-counter medicine rose as people sought to use the painkiller to reduce fever and relieve pain associated with COVID-19 reported the company.

Numbers

2,976 Cases in Rhode Island

26,867 Cases in Massachusetts

73 Deaths in RI

844 Deaths in Massachusetts

587,752 Cases in the United States

23,765 Deaths in the United States

1,939,720 Global Cases

120,761 Global Deaths

454,006 Global Recoveries

No Layoffs By State or Cities and Towns

While the private sector has been devastated, neither the state of Rhode Island or any of the 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island have announced layoffs.

Devastating Job Losses in Rhode Island

Here are the numbers since March 8, 2020:

144,099 have filed for Unemployment Insurance.

16,249 have filed for Temporary Disability Insurance.

22,502 gig workers have filed in just the past week

Going into the crisis 20,000 Rhode Islanders were out of work.

The total -- 202,850

GoLocal LIVE Schedule on Tuesday, April 14

10:00 AM Zachary Levesque, Northpointe - discussing the impact of the crisis on the housing market in RI

12:00 PM Dr. Michael Fine, former Director of the RI Department of Health

1:00 PM Governor Gina Raimondo

3:00 PM UVA Professor Jennifer Lawless - discussing the nation's politics

EDITOR'S NOTE: Raimondo does not allow Rhode Islanders to hear reporters' questions. Nearly all governors across the country and the White House allow reporters to ask questions directly and for the public to hear the questions and the responses.