Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | March 30, 2020 | wbjournal.com F O C U S H E A L T H C A R E income areas in the city of Worcester will be hit especially hard." Hit to businesses large and small e $2-trillion stimulus package passed by Congress in late March could come to the rescue of small businesses le with few customers or even having to close entirely for the time being. However, the stimulus package needs to spur customers to go back out to those businesses. "If consumers don't spend or become less confident, the whole thing falls down," Roser said of consumer spending's domino effect. "It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of small businesses go out of business as a result." e New York City credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has estimated the country's restaurant industry shrunk in income by almost half just in the first half of March. Bigger area firms have been hit hard, too, initially through supply chain disruptions from China, though how much isn't yet clear. Marlborough medical device company Boston Scientific said in an earnings report Feb. 5 – long before the impact on the United States was known – it expected coronavirus to hit its sales by $10 million to $40 million. Oxford laser manufacturer IPG Photonics said in an earnings report Feb. 13 it expects roughly $45 million in reduced revenue from the outbreak. BJ's Wholesale Club of Westborough, on the other hand, has seen its stock rise during the market's sharp downturn thanks to consumer stocking up on household staples. A Brookings Institution report ranked the Worcester metro area 56th of 384 And you can still see the local providers you love right here in Central Mass. We hear you. See how. Tufts Health Plan's smarter networks can save your company up to 11% on health insurance compared to our standard networks. tuftshealthplan.com/smarter-networks Industry employment breakdown The Worcester metropolitan area economy is more dependent on manufacturing, trade, education and health, but less dependent on leisure and hospitality, information, finance and business services. Here is a percent breakdown of employment by industry. Education and Health Services 24.1% 22.4% 21.5% 16.1% Trade, Transportation, and Utilities 18.6% 15.7% 15.3% 18.2% Government 15.9% 12.4% 11.4% 14.9% Manufacturing 9.6% 6.5% 6.6% 8.4% Professional and Business Services 9.4% 16.0% 18.2% 14.1% Leisure and Hospitality 8.6% 10.2% 9.6% 11.1% Financial Activities 5.0% 6.0% 6.5% 5.8% Mining, Logging, and Construction 3.9% 4.3% 4.2% 5.5% Other Services 3.8% 3.8% 3.7% 3.9% Information 1.1% 2.6% 3.0% 1.9% Greater Greater United Worcester Massachusetts Boston States Notes: The figure given is the percent of all workers. Greater Worcester includes Worcester County and Connecticut's Windham County. Greater Boston includes Suffolk and Middlesex counties and others, including parts of Southern New Hampshire Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (National numbers as of February; others are preliminary as of December 2019) areas as among the least likely to be hit hard by coronavirus-related economic changes, based on the area's core industries. Recovery, eventually How quickly Central Massachusetts and the rest of the United States and the world recover depends on factors including how well coronavirus can be stopped, transmission and death rates, and what actions governments take for both public health and the economy. Financial firms are largely projecting a quick return to economic growth, even if health experts have said the pandemic could last a year to 18 months. J.P. Morgan, which predicts a 14% economic contraction in the second quarter, said it expects growth of 8% in the third quarter and 4% in the fourth quarter. Despain, from Nichols, is less optimistic, because he said the trend for the last three decades has been more money going to high-income people at the expense of lower-income people. "My sense is that aer three decades of greater economic concentration in the U.S. economy," he said, "this is going to make the economy even more concentrated." Continued from Page 11 W

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