Business Bust
Since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted this year, there's been a steady stream of bankruptcies and closings by major businesses and brands. But those headline-making announcements do not tell the full story. For every major brand that shutters permanently, there are thousands of smaller or less well-known businesses also throwing in the towel, and the impact to the economy could be massive: According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, companies with fewer than 500 employees account for 44% of U.S. economic activity and employ nearly half of all American workers. To get a more complete picture of the devastation, Cheapism reached out to Yelp for state-by-state data on total business closings between March 1 and July 10.