Nov. 12 (UPI) — Stocks slid Thursday as more states and cities announced new lockdowns and restrictions amid growing coronavirus numbers, raising concerns about the economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 319 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 dropped 1% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7%.
The slide erased much of the gains from earlier in the week in response to positive COVID-19 vaccine trial news.
The United States confirmed another record-breaking 143,200 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, with a spike in deaths of about 2,000. The surge in cases has prompted several states and cities, including New York, Ohio and Chicago, to implement new restrictions on gatherings and encourage residents to stay home.
The new restrictions are increasing fears of another hit to the U.S. economy after nearly nationwide lockdowns in the spring prompted a sharp rise in unemployment levels.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday warned that though the economy is recovering from the hits taken earlier in the year, it’ll likely never look like it did before the pandemic.
“We’re recovering, but to a different economy,” he said during a virtual panel with the European Central Bank’s Forum on Central Banking.
Powell said Americans’ growing reliance on technology for remote working will likely have lasting effects on how people work in the future. He said there also will be gaps on regrowing economic stability of certain Americans.
“Even after the unemployment rate goes down and there’s a vaccine, there’s going to be a probably substantial group of workers who are going to need support as they’re finding their way in the post-pandemic economy, because it’s going to be different in some fundamental ways.
