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Employers are cutting shifts, suspending work and starting to lay off workers as the new coronavirus devastates business across the country. Companies from restaurant operators to wedding caterers have started to let workers go as they ratchet down operations. Many firms have moved cautiously to date, furloughing employees and moving workers to part-time status. But for many companies, economists say, layoffs are likely next. (Maidenberg, Cutter and Feintzeig, 3/18)

The new coronavirus pandemic has triggered a wave of U.S. workers filing for state jobless benefits, with states across the nation receiving a sharp rise in applications as businesses shut down and out-of-work Americans hunt for a payment lifeline. Ohio’s three-day total for jobless claims through Tuesday was 78,000, compared with about 3,000 for the same period last week. Connecticut filers have submitted more than 30,000 new claims since Monday, compared with just 2,500 all last week. (Chaney and Omeokwe, 3/18)

As the coronavirus pandemic shuts down business across the county, a surge in newly laid off workers is crashing states' unemployment websites. (Ivanova, 3/18)

A wave of laid-off workers, mostly from restaurants and bars that together form the nation’s largest private employer, overwhelmed state unemployment systems as states relaxed rules on coronavirus-related unemployment insurance. Northeastern and New England states were the first to see websites jammed by new jobless claims, as more governors opted to close restaurants and other public gathering places. (Henderson, 3/18)

As governments and communities struggle to figure out the best way to deal with the novel coronavirus, a major concern is how to balance the risk to lives versus the risk to livelihoods. In short, how do we balance the public health versus economic consequences of this pandemic? The answer comes from a widely used economic tool, and it is telling us that extreme measures are warranted. (Jacobson and Chang, 3/18)

The Macy’s in Manhattan’s Herald Square opened its doors to customers at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, as planned. Dozens of employees staffed the cash registers, cosmetics counter and shoe department. Many were frightened. Three days before, the company said that a worker at the store had tested positive for the coronavirus. But other workers were still being asked to commute to a job that required close interaction with the public. (Maheshwari and Corkery, 3/18)

The good news: The federal government is allowing states to expand eligibility for unemployment benefits because of the impact of COVID-19. If your employer had to temporarily shut down operations because of coronavirus, you can file. The same is true of employees who are currently being quarantined, but expect to return to work after. “In this emergency, I would not discourage anyone from trying to apply for benefits, even if they wouldn’t have applied before,” Michele Evermore, senior policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project, tells CNBC. (Leonhardt, 3/18)

In a powerful sign that casualties of the coronavirus outbreak include even the country’s strongest cultural institutions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is projecting a total shortfall of close to $100 million for the near future and expects to be closed until July, according to a letter the museum sent to its department heads on Wednesday. “This is an extraordinarily challenging time for us all,” said the letter, signed by the Met’s top executives, Daniel H. Weiss, the president and chief executive, and Max Hollein, the director. “As staff members of The Met we all have a profound responsibility to protect and preserve the treasured institution we inherited.” (Pogrebin, 3/18)

With fear of infection rising among factory workers, and few customers shopping for cars, several automakers on Wednesday decided to idle their plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico for at least a week. The decisions will put tens of thousands of people out of work and add to the coronavirus outbreak’s growing economic toll. The country’s largest automakers — General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler — decided to close plants after the United Auto Workers union pressured them to do so to protect workers. That pressure intensified after it was revealed on Wednesday that a worker at a Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Mich., had tested positive for the virus. (Boudette, 3/18)

The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus worldwide surpassed 200,000 for the first time Wednesday and the damage being seeded in the global economy is growing more clear by the day. Furloughs and job cuts, from dog walkers to oilfield workers, have begun. Governments around the world are pushing drastic countermeasures to help workers, particularly those who live paycheck to paycheck. (3/18)

It started last Tuesday, a sudden decline in the number of haircuts. By Saturday, the salon owner, Zach Edwards, was sitting in his office looking nervously at a line of empty barber chairs. “I’m really, really worried,” said Mr. Edwards, of his shop, Emerson Joseph, a male grooming salon in downtown Charlotte, N.C. “We had customers all week saying, ‘Can you cut it a little shorter? I don’t know when I’ll be back.’” (Tavernise, 3/18)

Since World War II, there have been 12 bear markets and 12 recessions, but not every bear market has preceded a downturn in the economy. (Russel and Grocer, 3/18)

Some businesses for days played down the health threat of the new coronavirus or directed employees to continue coming into offices as federal and local health authorities have called for flexible work arrangements to slow the spread of the disease. Closely held Hill Restaurant Group recently said it wouldn’t close its seven eateries in the Washington, D.C., area before reversing course. Ad agency holding company Omnicom Group Inc. OMC -5.85% and technology firm MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR -15.69% maintained—until this week—that most employees should come into work. (Needleman and Haggin, 3/18)

Walmart cut its store operating hours for the second time in a week Wednesday, in addition to making other store changes amid continued concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.Walmart stores in the U.S. will be open from 7 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. beginning Thursday. The move will “further help associates restock the shelves for customers while continuing to clean and sanitize the store,” Dacona Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Walmart U.S., said in a Wednesday statement. (Pitofsky, 3/18)