According to a survey conducted by The National Association for Business Economics (NABE ) a  majority of U.S. companies expect to stay afloat for more than six months without government assistance. Even though the economic activities are badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak the survey found that a third of firms expected to resume normal business operations within five to eight weeks. State and local governments have shut or limited operations of nonessential businesses, to control the spread of COVID-19, grounding the country and throwing millions out of work.

The federal government is making loans available to mostly small businesses, through a nearly $3 trillion rescue package. The survey of 107 NABE members ranging from single-person companies to large corporations with more than 1,000 employees was conducted from April 13 through April 16.

“Respondents report that last quarter was the worst since the global financial crisis for sales, profit margins, prices, and capital spending,” said Megan Greene, chair of NABE business conditions survey and senior fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. “A third of respondents say their firms’ operations have been severely impacted, including a few firms that have had a full suspension of operations.”

Still, three-quarters of respondents expected their firms could survive for over six months without federal assistance. Some 46% of all respondents said they would not seek government assistance through the stimulus package, while 31% in the service sector said they would.

Companies in the goods producing and services industries led the 31% of all respondents who said they had furloughed workers. Just under two-thirds reported freezing hiring, spread across all sectors.

Respondents from the goods-producing sector were more optimistic about reopening businesses, with half suggesting that normal operations will resume in six weeks or less, compared to less than one-third of respondents from other sectors. Sixteen percent of respondents indicated normal operations would require longer than six months.

According to a White House economic adviser the pandemic is a shock of historic proportions that will likely push the national unemployment rate to 16% or higher this month and require more stimulus to ensure a strong rebound.

Lockdowns across the United States to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus have hammered the economy, shuttering businesses and sending unemployment skyrocketing.

Source- Reuters