Forward Kentucky: Ohio Valley economic outlook grim as COVID aid programs end
With hundreds of thousands across the Ohio Valley struggling to make ends meet, a suite of coronavirus aid packages — including rent and utility relief funding, eviction moratoriums, and expanded unemployment benefits — is set to expire at the end of December.
Written by Sydney Boles of the Ohio Valley Resource
The consequences could be far-reaching. Poverty rates have soared as some federal programs, including the additional $600 in weekly unemployment aid, came to a close. Now, over 75% of Kentucky’s 7,654 independent restaurants are in danger of closing permanently, according to the Independent Restaurant Coalition; one in three West Virginians is at risk of eviction; 16% of Ohioans are behind on their rent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate is 6.9%— well below the terrifying peaks of late spring, but twice what it was in February.