Steps taken to contain the virus tipped the economy into recession. 休斯顿市区的消费者支出下降了35%.与当年1月相比，20年4月的增长率为8%, 根据哈佛大学的经济追踪报告. 成千上万的企业关门歇业，其中许多是永久性的. 九分之一的休斯顿人失去了工作. If not for the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, many more would have been laid off. 

A recovery began as elected officials eased restrictions on how businesses could operate and the massive fiscal stimulus packages that Congress passed began to work their way through the system. The recovery accelerated when vaccines became widely available. All but a handful of sectors have now fully recouped their job losses. In many industries, activity today is well above pre-pandemic levels. 

暴风雨前的平静

美国.S. enjoyed one of the longest economic expansions on record leading up to the pandemic. February ’20 marked the 113 consecutive month of job growth. Adjusted for inflation, gross domestic product had grown 27.自大衰退结束以来，失业率为0%. 全国失业率降至3%.5%，是过去50年来最低的.

After suffering through the Fracking Bust and Hurricane Harvey, 休斯顿也再次增长, 尽管增长速度比本世纪初要慢. 截至2020年1月的12个月, 该地区增加了62个席位,500个工作岗位, 略低于历史平均水平65岁,000元/年.

早期的时间表

The pandemic arrived in Houston on March 4 when a 本德堡 County resident was the first person to test positive for COVID-19 in Texas. 事件迅速展开:

3月11日经过8天的手术, the remainder of the ’20 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was canceled. 

3月12日: Houston-area school districts began to close and prepared to offer classes remotely.

3月16日: The Houston Health Department ordered all bars and nightclubs to close and for restaurants to halt on-site dining services.

3月19日: Following a national emergency declaration, Governor Abbott issued Executive Order No. GA-08, restricting social gatherings as well as the visitation of certain businesses.

3月24日: 哈里斯 County issues a stay-at-home order and all non-essential businesses are temporarily closed.

突然的影响

强制关闭摧毁了休斯顿的经济. 该地区在两个月内减少了36万个工作岗位. 失业率飙升至13%.3%. 在大流行开始时, 首次申请失业救济人数平均为58人,000元/周, 高于平均值3,前两个月每周800英镑. The region sank into the deepest economic slump in recent memory.

The Houston Purchasing Managers Index reflects the depths of the downturn. 降至34.4月份为6，是有记录以来的最低水平. Readings above 50 indicate the economy is expanding, below 50 that its contracting. During the Global Financial Crisis, the Houston PMI bottomed out at 39.0. 水力压裂泡沫破裂的最低点为43.3. The economy didn’t show signs of improvement until August ’20, 当指数再次突破50点时.0阈值.

在大流行早期, the Partnership reached out to its small- and medium-sized members to assess their well-being. 2010年4月调查的主要发现如下:

• 93.8 percent of respondents had instituted work-from-home practices,
• 53.6%的公司表示他们的收入有所下降，
• 47.1%的公司冻结了招聘，
• 41.0 percent classified their operations as severely impacted, 34.5%为中度影响
• 24.6%的人关闭了全部或部分手术.

Other data points to illustrate the impact of the pandemic:

• Houston TranStar monitored traffic volumes at 15 major intersections as a proxy for the decline in overall travel. In late April, traffic volume at those intersections was down 42 percent from pre-Covid levels.
• 休斯顿市混合饮料收据, 衡量酒吧和餐馆酒类销售情况的指标, 从107美元下跌.从2月份的200万美元降至4月份的不足1.3万美元.
• Calls to United Way’s 211 number seeking emergency assistance with rent, 食物, and utilities jumped 159 percent between early February and late April.
• In February, 18 percent of all Houstonians stayed close to home (i.e.(一英里内). 今年4月，这一平均值攀升至35%. 在那个月的几天里，它超过了50%. The data is based on cell phone locations tracked by Cubeiq.

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Note: The geographic area referred to in this publication as “Houston,” "Houston Area” and “Metro Houston” is the ten-county Census designated metropolitan statistical area of Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX. 这十个县是:奥斯汀, Brazoria, 钱伯斯, 本德堡, 加尔维斯顿, 哈里斯, 自由, 蒙哥马利, 圣哈辛托, 和沃勒.