The Travel & Tourism sector faces a staggering 100 million jobs losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, WTTC. The startling figure, based on research from WTTC, has increased by over 30% in the last four weeks, indicating the sheer crisis affecting the sector.
The COVID-19 outbreak in the United States has caused millions of people to lose their jobs and brought the economy to its knees but it has not dethroned the American dollar. On the contrary, the currency has risen in value this year, gaining six percent from its lowest point reached in early March, according to the US dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of other currencies.
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday that there can be no more quarantine measures imposed on the country than those already in place to combat coronavirus because jobs are being destroyed and the poor are suffering disproportionately.
Brazil's monthly inflation rate slowed dramatically to a nine-month low in March, suggesting the central bank may have been too slow to signal another interest rate cut as the data continued to fall short of its inflation target.
Despite official announcements that Brazil's recession was turning into a mild recovery, the unemployment rate rose to 12.6% in the quarter ended in February, reaching the highest level since mid-2017 and surpassing market expectations of a 12.5% rate, according to the national statistics office.