A survey by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research reports that “less than half of Los Angeles County residents — 45% compared with 61% in mid-March — still hold a job” due to the impact of coronavirus, the Los Angeles Times reports.
California has drawn praise for being one of the first states to declare an emergency, and to issue shelter-at-home orders. However, the economic impact of that public health response has been devastating, the USC Dornsife poll suggests.
The poll also measured the national economic impact of the coronavirus, according to the Times, which noted that as many as 25.5 million have lots jobs — with the impact worse among Latino and black residents nationwide:
Nationally, 15% of white people said they had lost their jobs, while 18% of Latinos and 21% of black people reported job losses.
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In L.A. County, people estimated their chances of running out of money within the next three months at 33%, and those who are currently employed estimated their chances of losing their jobs at 22%. Nationally, those measures were 22% and 15%, respectively.
The researchers found that Latinos are least confident about their job security.
But since mid-March, black Americans reported the steepest increase in their chances of running out of money, from a 23% likelihood to a 32% likelihood.
The USC Dorsife/Los Angeles Times poll was — despite criticism — considered among the most accurate of the 2016 presidential election, and one of the only surveys that suggested President Donald Trump had a chance of winning the election.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.