TECH

Introducing the COVID-19 Traffic Report

With so much coronavirus business news, it’s hard to separate what’s important from what’s happening on Jack Black’s TikTok. 

Thank goodness for Emerging Tech Brew writer Ryan Duffy. He’s distilled all the biggest digital and IRL traffic trends into a single report, and we’ve distilled all the biggest takeaways here. 

Online traffic has surged

In the social distancing era, school is virtual, work is virtual, and power hours are virtual. Our network infrastructure is carrying a freshman backpack of internet traffic, but it appears to be holding up.

• Comcast, which operates the largest residential internet network in the U.S., reported peak traffic that’s up 32% overall since March 1.
• Virgin Media said upstream traffic in the daytime has jumped 95% mainly due to work-from-homers uploading files to their corporate networks.

If that sounds way more productive than your own quarantine experience, these stats will make you feel better:

• Nokia reported 400% growth in gaming traffic during U.S. business hours from March 16–March 22. 
• The week of March 22 saw 1.2 billion downloads of mobile games—the biggest week ever for downloads, per App Annie. 

Mobile apps separate into winners and losers

Winners:

• Some grocery delivery apps, including Instacart, Walmart Grocery, and Shipt, hit record downloads in mid-March, per Apptopia.
• Business conference apps had their biggest download week ever March 14–21.
• Health and fitness apps saw a surge in downloads. 

Losers: 

• Travel app downloads dipped 31% in March.
• Music app downloads were also slightly down. Same with podcasts.
• Ride-sharing app downloads have collapsed.

Most people have become couch potatoes

If you aren’t an essential worker, the chances you’ve changed zip codes in the past few weeks are slim. One fun piece of supporting evidence is the speed of freight traffic through busy intersections.

• On I-495 in Queens, NY, trucks reached rush hour speeds of 38 mph in mid-March, compared to the 16 mph average, reports the ATRI. 
• Freight traffic normally moves through Atlanta’s Spaghetti Junction at below 15 mph during rush hour. The week of March 23, truck speeds averaged 53 mph.

Want more? You can flip through the full report here.

JOBS

The Streak Is Over

After 113 consecutive months of job gains, the U.S. economy posted negative nonfarm payrolls in March.

Payrolls fell by 701,000 last month, the biggest monthly decline since March 2009. The unemployment rate also jumped to 4.4% from 3.5% in February, the biggest month-on-month increase since January 1975. That’s the bad news. 

The worse news: The Labor Department mainly collected the data in the first half of the month. Early March might feel like a lifetime ago, but if you can remember, it was before state governments began enforcing shutdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Those shutdowns forced millions of layoffs...meaning April’s report is going to be way, way worse. 

How bad? St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said unemployment could hit 30% this quarter. Oxford Economics thinks the jobless rate will hit 16% and the economy will lose 27.9 million jobs by May. That would more than double the jobs lost in the last recession.

SMALL BIZ

Ready...Set...Borrow

U.S. small businesses rocked by social distancing measures got their first crack at $349 billion in emergency loans from the government yesterday.

It was a pretty chaotic day, as expected. Bank of America was ready to go in the morning, but JPMorgan didn’t begin accepting applications until after 1pm. Wells Fargo said it wouldn’t be able to receive any applications yesterday.

The backstory: The small business loan program, known as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), is the centerpiece of the $2.2 trillion economic relief bill passed just over a week ago. That short window meant the full details of PPP weren’t made public until Thursday night. 

• “Having just received guidance outlining how to implement a $349 billion program literally hours before it starts, we would ask for everyone to be patient,” said Richard Hunt, head of the Consumer Bankers Association. 

Patience will be excruciating for the small businesses across America with just a few weeks of cash on hand. And no one knows yet whether demand for these loans will outstrip the available funds.

SPONSORED BY ACQUIA

Digital Experiences Speak Louder Than Words

We could shout, “Acquia has all the tools and expertise you need to craft digital experiences that inspire action and deliver results!”

We could scream, “Acquia is the most trusted expert for open experience digital platforms! They power websites, applications, and online experiences for the world’s biggest brands!”

And all that would be true.

The thing is, we can’t possibly hope to capture the power of Acquia’s digital experiences with words in a newsletter. We can’t hope to truly communicate what your customers will feel when they consistently experience personalized, finely-crafted digital content.

So instead of reading our words about how great Acquia is—about how Acquia’s digital experiences let you understand, personalize, and engage with customers through any channel—just click here and experience Acquia for yourself.

MANUFACTURING

No Coincidence 3M Rhymes With GM

Sparring with President Trump over commitments to produce critical medical supplies is officially a spring Friday tradition for American manufacturers. Last week, the President suggested GM was moving too slowly in cranking out ventilators and invoked “the P” (aka the Defense Production Act).

Yesterday, it was 3M’s turn. The manufacturer went on the defense over its production of invaluable N95 masks after taking heat from the White House.

Some no-background: On Thursday, President Trump attacked 3M on Twitter, insinuating it’ll “have a big price to pay” for its handling of N95 mask production. He again invoked the Defense Production Act, this time forcing 3M to make as many masks as FEMA wants. 

• The U.S. has the capacity to make about 50 million N95 masks monthly. 3M makes some 35 million of them.

What 3M is doing: hitting back, saying yesterday that the White House’s allegations are “absurd” and that it’s raised domestic production and started importing masks from its China plant.

What 3M isn’t doing: complying with Trump’s request to stop exporting U.S.-made masks to Canada and Latin America, citing “significant” humanitarian concerns and fear that retaliation might actually leave the U.S. with fewer masks.

AVIATION

What a Collapse in Aviation Looks Like

Delta Air Lines planes quarantine & chill at Kansas City International Airport. Delta has parked half its fleet in response to plummeting demand for air travel. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• The CDC is advising Americans to wear a nonmedical face mask when they're outside, President Trump said. It is not a mandatory order.
• Google launched a set of mobility reports that show people’s movements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Sanofi CEO: “The one-meeting trip will disappear forever.” 
• Under Armour will furlough 6,600 U.S. workers.
• Alcoholic beverage sales are spiking in the U.S.

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BREW'S BETS

Weekend conversation starters...because small talk makes everything feel a little more normal:

• What have you used Zoom for besides work? 
• Compare your fictional personality doppelgängers
• Puzzles: Pointless unpaid labor or engaging activity?
• What room do you wish you could be in right now? 

SATURDAY HEADLINES

If you told us a month ago there wouldn't be a single restaurant open for sit-in dining in all of New York City we wouldn't have believed you. Here are some other unbelievable headlines from the week's news, plus a fake one we dropped in. Can you spot the odd one out? 

1. “Shaq criticized for skipping too many Papa John’s board meetings”
2. “Wild goats take over empty streets of Welsh town as residents stay inside”
3. ”From toilet paper to face mask in 5 easy steps” 
4. “Jeff Bezos’ space company is pressuring employees to launch a tourist rocket during the pandemic”

SATURDAY HEADLINES ANSWER

If there is a DIY toilet paper mask, we haven't seen it.