U.S. Economic Activity During the Early Weeks of the SARS-Cov-2 Outbreak

Lewis, Daniel J.; Mertens, Karel; Stock, James H.

doi:10.24149/wp2011

Working Paper

U.S. Economic Activity During the Early Weeks of the SARS-Cov-2 Outbreak

Abstract: This paper describes a weekly economic index (WEI) developed to track the rapid economic developments associated with the response to the novel Coronavirus in the United States. The WEI shows a strong and sudden decline in economic activity starting in the week ending March 21, 2020. In the most recent week ending April 4, the WEI indicates economic activity has fallen further to -8.89% scaled to 4-quarter growth in GDP.

Keywords: Weekly Economic Index; High Frequency; Measurement of Economic Activity; COVID-19;

JEL Classification: C51; E01; E66;

https://doi.org/10.24149/wp2011