Sushiman/iStock(NEW YORK) — The coronavirus pandemic has quickly evolved from a health crisis to a financial one, shuttering businesses, upending entire industries and sending financial markets reeling.

Here’s the latest news on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the economy. For more on financial resources available during the pandemic, click here.

Macy’s to furlough a majority of its workforce beginning this week

As the retail industry takes a massive hit from the COVID-19 outbreak, the already-struggling chain Macy’s announced Monday it will furlough “the majority of our colleagues” beginning this week.

All Macy’s stores have been shuttered since March 18 and will remain closed “until we have clear line of sight on when it is safe to reopen,” the company said in a statement.

The company admitted the outbreak “continues to take a heavy toll on Macy’s, Inc. business.”

“Across Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and Bluemercury brands, we will be moving to the absolute minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations,” the statement added.

Workers who have been furloughed but are enrolled in health benefits will continue to receive coverage until at least May, the company said.

Macy’s said it expects to bring back the furloughed employees “on a staggered basis as business resumes.”

Markets uptick slightly after weeks of volatility

U.S. financial markets showed some signs of stabilization after a volatile few weeks, inching upwards slightly on Monday morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 250 points, or slightly over 1% by mid-morning Monday. The S&P 500 was up more than 1.5% and the Nasdaq spiked more than 2%.

Markets slipped last Friday after three days of back-to-back gains earlier in the week.

Over the weekend, President Trump officially reversed his call to reopen businesses by Easter and said he will extend the nation’s coronavirus social distancing guidelines to April 30.

“The modelling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks,” Trump said at his daily briefing at the White House. “Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won.”

The guidelines cover work-from-home directives, travel limitations, business closures and other efforts to combat the virus. Trump said that his office would give more details about the new plans on Tuesday.

The announcement came just days after the president said he hoped that Easter would be a celebration of the virus’ defeat.

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