The numbers associated with the coronavirus pandemic blow the mind. More than 33 million U.S. workers have applied for unemployment benefits. The federal government expects to borrow a record $4.5 trillion this year. Half of the nation’s small businesses temporarily closed, and almost 60 percent of them don’t think they have enough cash to get through the crisis. An estimated 25 million to 43 million people could lose their employer-sponsored health insurance coverage, the Urban Institute...

The offspring of a train wreck and a dumpster fire would resemble Florida’s unemployment benefits program. The state’s leaders so undermined the system over the past decade that when the money needed to flow, it dripped like a broken faucet. The incompetence has made the coronavirus crisis worse, hurting countless out-of-work Floridians and further destabilizing the economy when it most needed financial support. Audit after audit exposed the fragility of the online application system, which...

You aren’t alone if you feel a little more confident about getting through the coronavirus crisis. A new survey from the Tampa Bay Partnership shows that area residents are less concerned than a couple of weeks ago, particularly about getting sick. Even people laid off or furloughed are more confident than two weeks ago, when the same researchers conducted a similar survey. That said, people are still worried about their health, jobs and community. About 51 percent of respondents remained...

Mark Pentecost saw a federal loan program targeted at small businesses as a potential lifeline. The coronavirus crisis had eroded sales at his company It Works! and he wondered how he would keep paying his 164 employees. He said there was no playbook for how to handle a pandemic. He thought the state might order him to close his warehouse to prevent the spread of the virus. He also wondered whether his sales of mostly health and weight management products, including Skinny Brew coffee, would...

Seven questions with Steve Kempton, president of home builder Taylor Morrison’s Florida operation. Sales of newly-built homes fell as much as 85 percent at the end of March, according to industry reports, though they have rebounded in recent weeks. How bad is it for home builders? We started March off very strong, but by the middle of the month, demand dropped dramatically. We’re seeing the biggest impact in sales of active lifestyle homes (which largely cater to the over-55 buyer.) They’re...