Many have been affected by the pandemic in many ways. Many have gotten sick, lost
a loved one, and/or lost their jobs, and has made employers increase prices of products.
According to the Worldbank blogs, from 2021 during pandemic period, to
present, the graph shows how the poverty decreases from 684.2 to 676.5 million of
people. This is a pessimistic projection. This data was presented in April 2022. Currently,
there has been changes in Covid-19 and Omicron victims, who work less because of medical
consequences, and have more poverty. Until March 2020, right before quarantine started,
prices were on average during past years.
In the article “How America is coping with inflation: Buy what’s needed, nothing
more,” the author states that “Consumers bought 6% fewer items at general merchandise stores in the first quarter of the year of 2022 and the frequency with which they shopped also
fell 5% in the first quarter”(CNN, 2022). People are now watching what they buy and how
much they spend.
Fidel Jiron, an Economist said “groceries have gotten more expensive. The
manufacturer normally produces its products. Then, they are put on the market. Now, the
problem becomes when transporting the product. The cost of transportation makes the
product more expensive, and many times there’s not enough people to transport these
products. Before pandemic era, there was a variety of transportation options, or the
manufacturer already knew who will transport it. But with the pandemic going on, not a lot
of people are working because of their health or not enough working hours. This makes the
cost of transportation increase, and it gets reflected at the final price of the products.”
As written in the article “How the pandemic has affected the economy, from empty
shelves to higher prices,” the author mentioned “Inflation fell slightly in the beginning of the
pandemic but then rebounded and rose quickly in the United States as well as in many other
countries” (PBS, 2021). When the pandemic started in March 2020, Covid-19 affected the
economy tremendously by isolating most of the people and having them quarantine in their
homes and closing many businesses and jobs where they would service people like
restaurant, cafeterias, construction jobs, factories.
Joseph Alvarado, a college student said “due to the price increase during the
pandemic, it has decreased my quality of life since I have to deprive myself from doing
things I used to enjoy. Like for example, I don’t drive my car like I used to because of the gas
prices being high.” Many people like Joseph have been seeing themselves in the need of
adapting to the prices increasing and stop doing some things they used to enjoy like eating
out with friends, going to the movies, etc.
In accordance with the article above, as measured by the Labor Department’s
consumer-price index, inflation rose to 5.3% in the U.S. throughout the 12 months
through August 2021. This non-production produced a lot of money because cash wasn’t
circulating throughout the country; therefore, products were more expensive than before the
pandemic era.
The production of goods has been affected by the pandemic in various ways, affecting everything from gas prices through groceries. This has resulted in increases in the price of products with inflation rates of 7% in 2021 and 8.3% in 2022. Until March 2020, before quarantine started, prices had stayed steady for many years prior, ranging from 0.8% to 2.3% inflation from 2000 to 2020.
The recent increase in prices has impacted consumer behavior. In the article “How America is Coping with Inflation: Buy What’s Needed, Nothing More,”
Parija Kavilanz states, “Consumers bought 6% fewer items at general merchandise stores in the first quarter of the year of 2022 and the frequency with which they shopped also fell 5% in the first quarter” (CNN, 2022).
People are being careful in their daily expenditures. Economist Fidel Jiron said, “Groceries have gotten more expensive. The manufacturer normally produces its
products. Then, they are put on the market. The problem comes when transporting the product. The cost of transportation makes the product more expensive, and many times there are not enough people to transport them. Before the pandemic, there were a variety of transportation options, or the manufacturer already knew who would transport them. But with the pandemic going on, not many people were working because of their health or not enough working hours. That made the cost of transportation increase, which is reflected in the final price of the products.”
As written in the article, “How the pandemic has affected the economy, from empty shelves to higher prices,"Alberto Cavallo and Oleksiy Kryvtsov mentioned,“Inflation fell slightly at the beginning of the pandemic but then rebounded and rose quickly in the United States as well as in many other countries” (PBS, 2021).
When the pandemic started in March 2020, Covid-19 affected the economy tremendously by isolating most people and requiring them to quarantine in their homes. As a result, many businesses closed and eliminated service jobs like restaurants, cafeterias, construction jobs and factories. Joseph Alvarado, a college student said, “Due to the price increase during the pandemic, it has decreased my quality of life since I have to deprive myself of doing things I used to enjoy. For example, I don’t drive my car like I used to because of the gas prices being high." Many people like Joseph have been seeing themselves needing to adapt to increasing prices and stop doing some things they used to enjoy like eating out with friends or going to the movies.