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The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic may prove more devastating than the disease itself for the world's poorest countries as the global economy hurtles into recession, people lose jobs by the hundreds of millions and the risk of hunger grows, U.N. officials and aid experts fear. For now at least, covid-19 seems to be largely a disease of the rich, developed world, with 74 percent of the 4.4 million cases reported worldwide occurring in North America and Europe, along with an overwhelming 85 percent of the deaths. (Sly, 5/14)

Women usually fare better than men during an economic downturn. Not this time. Growth in service professions has allowed women to overtake men as a proportion of the U.S. labor force. But it has also made them more vulnerable to job losses, because sectors with more women, such as education, leisure and hospitality, have been hardest hit by social-distancing measures. (Chaney and Weber, 5/15)

Scattershot reopenings of retail stores, nail salons and restaurants around the country have not halted the flood of layoffs, with the government reporting Thursday that nearly three million people filed unemployment claims last week, bringing the two-month tally to more than 36 million. The weekly count of new claims has been declining since late March, but that hopeful flicker barely stands out in an otherwise grim and chaotic economic landscape. “This is a very protracted, painful situation for the labor market,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, “and I just don’t see anything positive.” (Cohen and Hsu, 5/14)

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using the $2 trillion coronavirus stabilization law to throw a lifeline to education sectors she has long championed, directing millions of federal dollars intended primarily for public schools and colleges to private and religious schools. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, signed in late March, included $30 billion for education institutions turned upside down by the pandemic shutdowns, about $14 billion for higher education, $13.5 billion to elementary and secondary schools, and the rest for state governments. (Green, 5/15)

Less than 40 percent of small businesses have received support from the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration's (SBA) emergency coronavirus lending initiative, according to Census Bureau data released Thursday. While 74.9 percent of respondents to the Census Bureau’s survey of small businesses applied for a forgivable loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), only 38.1 percent received aid. (Lane, 5/14)

Georgia’s Department of Labor processed nearly a quarter of a million unemployment claims last week as the flood of virus-triggered job cuts continued, officials said Thursday. The latest figures bring the total number of claims handled since the start of March to 1,849,382. That’s 37% of Georgia’s pre-virus workforce, a much higher share than the national average of about 22%. (Kanell, 5/14)

The state’s top law enforcement official has stopped dozens of illegal evictions in Massachusetts in recent weeks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities said this week. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office said it has received about 15 complaints of illegal evictions since a statewide moratorium went into effect, and has secured the withdrawal of almost 50 evictions that were filed against tenants in court before the state law went into effect. (McDonald, 5/14)