Steve Gruber Whoa! Companies Had Cut Payrolls by 27,000 In Early March; Before Coronavirus Lockdown!

I had to check a few sources before even giving my opinion because today is April 1, 2020, April Fool’s Day.

According to ADP and Moody’s Analytics, private companies shed 27,000 employees for the period through March 12. That’s not chicken feed.

Many Americans believed that everything was moving along and have blamed COVID-19 (coronavirus) for destroying a robust economy but learning this morning that private companies had cut 27,000 jobs before the states started implementing stay-at-home lockdown policies just adds to the bad news we are experiencing right now.

Optimists will say that we will come back from this and win the day. I never thought anything different, but how will things look. The world has changed in 2020. Businesses have laid-off workers, and I can predict, not every employer is going to bring back ALL of their employees. Unemployment could reach 47 million based on new financial projections, and if that happens, katy bar the door.

“It was the first time the private payroll count had contracted in 10 years, and total job losses probably will total 10 million to 15 million, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s.” https://t.co/wcxjzFB6hm ^[1]

— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) April 1, 2020 ^[2]

Companies reduced payrolls by 27,000 in early March before the worst of the coronavirus-induced economic freeze, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody’s Analytics.

Actual losses for the month were far worse as indicated by the millions of people who already have filed unemployment claims. Wednesday’s report covers the period through March 12.

It was the first time the private payroll count had contracted in 10 years, and total job losses probably will total 10 million to 15 million, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s.

“It’s been 10 straight years of consistent, solid job growth, and the virus has put an end to that,” Zandi said on a media conference call.

“Much bigger job losses are coming,” he added.

Just 6% of companies indicated they are hiring, a level worse than during the financial crisis and comparable to about 40% for a typical month, Zandi said.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast a loss of 125,000 jobs. However, the March ADP count, as well as Friday’s nonfarm payrolls, report cover periods before the government instituted social distancing measures that have shut down large parts of the U.S. economy. [CNBC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcy44rUYZHk

This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on April 1, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com ^[3] and is used by permission.