Welcome to the 69th issue of the California Coronavirus Weekly Recap newsletter. Before we get started with this week’s news, we want to let you know the recording from last week’s Center for California Real Estate discussion about the future of home and work post-COVID is now available.
Last week, we told you that if you’re a housing provider Gov. Newsom signed a bill to pay landlords with qualified tenants COVID-19 back rent in full and extend the state’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium through September 30, 2021. C.A.R. is holding a Legal Live Webinar tomorrow afternoon, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. to help members navigate the updated rules on critical dates, landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities, standard forms, and the relationship to local laws. Register here.
In This Issue:
- The Economy & Your Finances: Business Should Be Booming — If Only There Were Enough Workers For The Job
- The Market & Industry: Mortgage Demand Falls for 2nd Consecutive Week
- Around the State: Delta variant now the most dominant version of virus in California
- Health Check-Up: ‘Long COVID’ is a risk for the unvaccinated
The Economy & Your Finances: Business Should Be Booming — If Only There Were Enough Workers For The JobRestaurants, beauty parlors and factories all have plenty of customers right now but not enough workers to meet the demand.
The Labor Department said Friday that U.S. employers added 850,000 jobs in June, including 194,000 in bars and restaurants. But overall payroll employment is still 6.8 million below its pre-pandemic level.
The labor shortage is so vast that some companies are paying a premium to attract new people. The job search website Indeed found the number of employers offering bonuses to new hires has more than doubled in the last year.
However, economists are cautioning calling it a labor shortage. Instead, they contend it’s actually a shortage of good jobs.
Economists say it’s only a matter of time before open roles are filled, and the least desirable jobs with the lowest pay and benefits will be the last to go. They don’t see the job market as a sign of shifting economic forces unleashed by the pandemic, or of a workforce made comfortable or lazy by stimulus payments.
Yet some trends are emerging clearly. The struggle to fill jobs is hitting smaller businesses disproportionately. Workers may be in a prime position to secure better conditions and pay, but without changes at the federal level, economists said the gains will be short-lived — and white-collar workers may gain the most, entrenching inequality.
Sources: NPR, Los Angeles Times, CNBC
The Market & Industry: Mortgage Demand Falls for 2nd Consecutive Week
Mortgage demand fell for the second week in a row, as low inventory and high home prices continue to weigh on the housing market.
Mortgage applications decreased 1.8% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index, falling to the lowest level since the beginning of 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic started to take a toll on the economy.
Both refinance and purchase applications took a hit, even as mortgage rates slipped.
Nearly one-third (31.3%) of California REALTORS® surveyed last week for C.A.R.’s Weekly Survey reported closing a sale during the week prior. That is a decrease of 4.2% from the previous week. Meanwhile, 30.4% of those surveyed reported entering escrow, and 28.6% reported listing a property. Both of those are down 4.3% and 1.2%, respectively, from the week prior.
Nearly 30% of those surveyed believe sales will increase this week, representing a decline of 20.3% from the previous week. Additionally, 38.7% reported that they think prices will be up, and 37% believe listings will rise this week. These are all declinations of 15.9% and 21.9%, respectively, from the previous week.
To participate in the weekly survey, visit http://subscribe.car.org/e/85202/survey/6z951t/1229377554?h=X0RoBzTswJfmsFBWbg-UxsscBUWKZMSVkmMjGjVEc9s.
Sources: CNBC, C.A.R.
Around the State: Delta variant now the most dominant version of virus in California
The more contagious coronavirus variant called Delta is now the most common version of the virus in California, state data shows.
Nearly 36% of coronavirus samples sequenced in June comprise the Delta variant, according to the California Department of Public Health. In May, the Delta variant made up just 5.6% of sequenced cases in the state.
In Los Angeles County, scientists found that the variant accounted for nearly half of all of the variants genetically sequenced.
Given that weekly coronavirus cases in L.A. County have suddenly doubled and COVID-19 hospitalizations have jumped by more than 30%, the L.A. County Department of Public Health last week recommended that even fully vaccinated people resume wearing masks in indoor public areas until more definitive information about the Delta variant emerges.
Additionally, the California Legislature is tightening up its mask rules at the Capitol after nine positive COVID-19 cases surfaced there last week.
Federal health officials, by contrast, have said that fully vaccinated people need not wear masks because of the vaccines’ high degree of protection.
Always check local ordinances and business guidelines for the most- up-to-date guidelines on mask wearing.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccine uptake has largely stagnated in Black and Latino neighborhoods hardest hit by the coronavirus, and in rural outposts where opposition to vaccines runs rampant. In these communities, deep distrust of government and the U.S. health care system has collided with the state’s high-stakes effort to finish vaccinating its 34 million vaccine-eligible residents.
Sources: Sacramento Bee, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, California Dept. of Public Health, KCRA.com
Health Check-Up: ‘Long COVID’ is a risk for the unvaccinated
Estimates from the C.D.C. suggest that the Delta variant is now responsible for about one in every four cases in the United States.
In fact, the US government is deploying a Covid-19 surge team to provide public health support in southwest Missouri, where the spread of the virus is filling up hospital beds once again.
Over the past week, the Missouri Covid-19 caseload came in second highest in the country, with 15.5 new cases per 100,000 people daily, or 108 cases per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University data published Sunday. Arkansas claimed the highest rate at 15.7 new cases per 100,000 people each day, the data shows.
For untold numbers of people around the world, a bout with COVID-19 is just the beginning. But weeks or months later, they find themselves contending with a baffling array of symptoms that don’t quite add up to COVID-19 and just won’t go away.
It’s a condition that has come to be known as “long COVID,” also known as Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19, or PASC.
Some symptoms are the same as regular COVID-19: fever, fatigue, headaches, coughs, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, and loss of smell or taste.
Others are seemingly unique to long COVID, such as heart palpitations, depression, dizziness upon standing, joint or muscle pain, depression or anxiety, and difficulty concentrating or focusing, a condition sometimes called “brain fog.”
Patients suffering from long COVID say the symptoms can come and go without warning.
Sources: New York, Times, CNN.com, Johns Hopkins University, Bakersfield Californian