60 percent of businesses closed due to pandemic will never reopen

Yelp recently released an economic report regarding the many businesses registered on its platform, and the data looks dismal.

The data breaks down as follows: at the beginning of the pandemic, 180,000 businesses closed, mostly due to government regulations. That number steadily went down between March and July, but since then has been increasing again. As of Aug. 31, the running total has reached 163,735, up 23 percent from July's low.

According to CNBC, the Yelp study differentiates between businesses that have closed temporarily and those which are permanently shuttered, and that's where the data shows a cause for alarm.

The number of permanently closed businesses in the US has steadily increased since March and now sits at 97,966 which is roughly 60 percent of the total amount of closed businesses, over a six month period.

Perhaps the worst and most telling statistic is that permanent closures of businesses have spiked a shocking 34 percent since the last report in mid-July.

Not surprisingly, the businesses hardest hit by the closures are businesses like bars, nightclubs, gyms and beauty salons. Also, any industry that depends heavily on tourism has been hit hard.  To date in 2020, 32,109 restaurants across the US have closed their doors permanently.

The businesses showing the most resilience are those that work well without people having to leave their homes. These include businesses like general contractors, lawyers, translation businesses, etc.

Cities like Honolulu and Las Vegas are particularly suffering, as well as places like New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.