Down But Not Out: Pandemic Likely Dealt Blow To Economy, But There’s Room For Hope

The resurgence in the pandemic likely dealt a major blow to the U.S. economy in the last three months of the year, though it is not expected to have delivered a knockout punch.

Most economists expect fourth-quarter gross domestic product data on Thursday will show a significant slowdown from July to September, when the economy staged a sharp recovery from the early days of the pandemic.

Key sectors such as leisure and hospitality have been hit hard by the pandemic’s resurgence, and had it not been for the $900 billion rescue package that Congress passed in the final weeks of December, the economy might have started 2021 with a double-dip recession.