Yelp: 60 percent of US businesses closures since March are permanent

A Yelp report released Wednesday determined that about 60 percent of business closures across the country since March are permanent, a staggering statistic that shows the widespread economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Yelp’s September Local Economic Impact report concluded that 97,966 businesses on Yelp have permanently closed between March 1, shortly before most U.S. shutdowns, and Aug. 31. In total, 163,735 businesses on Yelp have experienced closures in that time period.

The total number of business closures, both temporary and permanent, on Yelp has risen by 23 percent since July 10 when the company released its Q2 Yelp Economic Average report.

The restaurant industry has taken a particularly hard hit during the pandemic, with 32,109 restaurants on Yelp closing and 19,590 of those — 61 percent — being permanent. The bars and nightlife industry has seen 6,451 closures; 54 percent of those are permanent.

Other industries impacted during the pandemic include retail and shopping, which has seen 30,374 business closures, 58 percent of which are permanent, and beauty, which has seen 16,585 closures, 42 percent of which are permanent. 

Professional services, like lawyers, real estate agents, architects, accountants and health-related businesses experienced some of the smallest rates of closures since the beginning of March. 

Hawaii, California and Nevada, the states with the three highest unemployment rates, saw the most total closures and permanent closures.

The report comes about six months after the coronavirus pandemic began affecting the economy, as the virus caused massive shutdowns in the U.S. in mid-March. 

The shutdowns left millions of people unemployed, with the pandemic taking out almost all the jobs gained since the Great Recession of 2008. In April, the unemployment rate rocketed to 14.7 percent before falling to 8.4 percent in August.