US Daily COVID-19 Cases Surpass 90,000...Record High
Europe Also Faces COVID Surge...US 3Q Recovery Fades
Recovery to Last Year's Level, "Likely Only in 2022"
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The daily new COVID-19 cases in the United States have surpassed 90,000, pushing the cumulative number of confirmed cases past 9 million for the first time. As COVID-19 rages with the onset of cold weather, concerns are rising that a "bleak winter" may become a reality. Although the U.S. economy succeeded in rebounding in the third quarter, worries are growing that another economic shock may occur in the fourth quarter.
On the 29th (local time), according to the COVID-19 tally on the global statistics site Worldometer, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. reached 9,207,225, significantly exceeding 9 million. The daily new cases recorded 91,309, surpassing the previous highest record. The COVID-19 situation in Europe is also worsening, with France reporting 47,637 new daily cases, and major countries such as the UK (23,065), Spain (23,580), Italy (26,831), and Germany (18,732) all seeing daily new cases hovering above 20,000, making it difficult to contain the spread.
As confirmed cases surged sharply in the U.S. and major European countries, concerns over a fourth-quarter economic shock due to COVID-19 have dimmed the U.S. economic recovery in the third quarter. According to foreign media including CNN, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced that the U.S. GDP growth rate for the third quarter was 7.4% quarter-on-quarter, or 33.1% annualized, marking the highest growth rate on an annualized quarter-on-quarter basis. The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) self-assessed that "this figure was possible because the U.S. economy had a solid foundation, showing the highest growth rate among G7 countries from 2017 to 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak."
However, major stock markets did not react strongly. Despite a drop of more than 3% the previous day, they failed to rebound significantly amid concerns over the fourth-quarter economic outlook and remained stagnant. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,659.11, up 0.52% from the previous session, while the S&P 500 (1.19%) and Nasdaq (1.64%) also rose but only by around 1%. Germany's DAX 30 (0.32%) saw a slight increase, whereas the UK's FTSE 100 (-0.02%) and France's CAC 40 (-0.03%) slightly declined.
U.S. economic experts are also forecasting that with the worsening COVID-19 situation, it will be difficult for the U.S. economy to recover to last year's levels in the fourth quarter. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 8th that in a survey of U.S. economists, 42.9% of respondents expected the U.S. employment market to recover by 2023, three years from now, while 34.7% anticipated recovery within 2022. About 2% of respondents even gave a very pessimistic outlook, suggesting recovery could take until 2030.
According to CNBC, Diane Swonk, an economist at international consulting firm Grant Thornton, said, "Market anxiety stems from the current rapid increase in COVID-19 cases and the uncertainty about how many severe cases will increase by next month and the end of the year, and how severe the damage will be." She added, "To restore the gross domestic product (GDP) to last year's level by the end of the year, a large-scale economic stimulus package is essential, but confusion continues ahead of the presidential election."
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