As job losses surge from the coronavirus pandemic, 227,000 Floridians filed for unemployment benefits last week.
This is usually the peak tourism season in the Tampa Bay region, but as many as a quarter of those Floridians who filed for unemployment were restaurant, hotel and theme park workers here in the area.
WUSF’s Bradley George spoke with Dave Sobush, director of policy and research at the Tampa Bay Partnership, about COVID-19’s impact on the region’s economy.
"There could not have been a worse time economically during the calendar year for this pandemic to reach Tampa Bay," Sobush said, noting that the service industries related to tourism generate nearly $11 billion in gross sales between March and May.
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