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Forsyth Futures Provides Local Data On COVID-19 Economic Toll

An example of the dashboard showing COVID-19 early economic measures on the Forsyth Futures website. Screen capture from Forsyth Futures.

There's a new tool for tracking the economic impact of the pandemic on Forsyth County.

The data is being compiled and analyzed by Forsyth Futures, a nonprofit that does research and data analysis on community issues.

The dashboard allows users to see trends in local economic indicators. Categories include construction activity, unemployment, hotel bookings, and restaurant reservations.

Among the findings: About half of the workers in the county are employed in fields or occupations likely to experience job losses as a result of the pandemic. And Black, Hispanic, or Latino residents are more likely to feel the economic impact of COVID-19.

Researchers found more than 40 percent of Forsyth residents would likely experience poverty if workers in their families in at-risk jobs end up losing their employment. 

The organization plans to update the economic data weekly.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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