Economy

May 6, 2020 - Previous COVID-19 federal relief bills left out the essential workers most at risk in the pandemic. Those workers are fighting to make sure that doesn't happen again. 

April 28, 2020 - As President Trump pledges action to shield meatpacking companies from liability for sickened workers, employees of two major poultry-processing companies in Arkansas say Tyson and George's aren't doing enough to keep them safe in the pandemic.

April 20, 2020 - The migrant and seasonal farmworkers who help feed the U.S. are considered "essential" employees amid the coronavirus pandemic and must show up to work to earn enough money to survive. As schools move online and government child development programs close temporarily, they're left scrambling to figure out what to do with their children.

April 10, 2020 - The Southeast Crescent Regional Commission was created in 2008 to provide economic development assistance to Black Belt states but has never received its full appropriation from Congress — even while its counterpart covering whiter, richer Northern states has. With Black Belt communities being ravaged by the pandemic, it's past time for action.

April 9, 2020 - The rural South's health care system was struggling even before the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has brought hospital and health clinic closures as well as worker furloughs. 

April 3, 2020 - The South has the nation's highest rate of unbanked people, a population that's always economically vulnerable. It's especially true in the time of coronavirus.

April 2, 2020 - Many states and local communities in the South have ordered restaurants to move to takeout-only to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus, and business is down even in places where they're still open. That means tough times for low-wage food servers, especially given the stingy unemployment benefits offered in some states.