Badly Hit California Economy Aims To Reverse Virus 'free Fall'

Millions unemployed, world-famous tourist attractions closed, movie sets shuttered and a huge deficit looming: California has been among the states hardest hit by the pandemic economically

Los Angeles, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th May, 2020 ) :Millions unemployed, world-famous tourist attractions closed, movie sets shuttered and a huge deficit looming: California has been among the states hardest hit by the pandemic economically.

Before the coronavirus struck, the Golden State had been growing at a faster pace than the rest of the country for an entire decade.

But when stay-at-home orders were announced in March, earlier than similar measures elsewhere across the nation, the economy -- heavily dependent on tourism, hospitality and entertainment -- took a sharp nosedive.

As businesses from shops and restaurants to amusement parks such as Disneyland closed, unemployment shot from negligible levels to 24 percent, well above the national rate of 15 percent and closer to the state's Great Depression peak.

Having paid out nearly $19 billion in unemployment benefits, with the assistance of Federal loans, California now faces a $54 billion deficit.

That means cuts to school, social, health and infrastructure programs.

"COVID-19 has caused California and economies across the country to confront a steep and unprecedented economic crisis -- facing massive job losses and revenue shortfalls," Governor Gavin Newsom said two weeks ago.