US COVID-19 New Cases at 187,000... Economic Contraction Expected in 1Q Next Year

187,000 New Daily Cases
Deaths Also in the 2,000s
Local Governments Continue Activity Restrictions
JPMorgan Predicts Contraction in Q1 Next Year

An employee is restocking empty shelves at a distribution store in Pennsylvania, where COVID-19 has rapidly spread. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in the United States has reached about 187,000, setting a new record once again. The daily death toll from COVID-19 also exceeded 2,000 for the first time in six months. JP Morgan has issued a grim forecast that the U.S. economy will contract again in the first quarter of next year.

According to CNBC, JP Morgan predicted on the 20th (local time) that due to the spread of COVID-19, the U.S. economy will shrink by 1% in the first quarter of next year. JP Morgan estimated the economic growth rate for the fourth quarter of this year at 2.8%.

JP Morgan is the first Wall Street financial institution to predict negative growth in the first quarter. JP Morgan's economic experts said, "This winter will be bleak," and "We believe the economy will contract again in the first quarter."

JP Morgan estimated the U.S. economic growth rate to be 2.8% in the second quarter and 4.5% in the third quarter of next year.

The COVID-19 situation in the U.S. is worsening. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, on the 19th, the number of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. reached 187,833. This surpassed the previous record of 177,224 cases on the 13th.

If this continues, there is an increasing possibility that the daily new cases will exceed 200,000.

Local governments are also continuing to impose activity restrictions.

In California, people who are not essential workers are prohibited from leaving their homes from 10 p.m. every night until 5 a.m. the next morning.

Newark, the largest city in New Jersey, where new infections exceed those of last March, has recommended a stay-at-home order for ten days starting from the 25th, just before Thanksgiving.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also warned that non-essential businesses might be shut down or restaurant operations restricted in early December. New York City had previously suspended in-person classes at public schools as the COVID-19 positivity rate exceeded 3%.

.