10 Things That Give Us Hope That Summer 2021 Will Be Stronger than Originally Thought

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<span>10 Things That Give Us Hope That Summer 2021 Will Be Stronger than Originally Thought </span>

By Jack Johnson, Destinations International 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that fully vaccinated Americans can resume domestic and overseas travel as long as they wear masks in public.  

Individuals do not need to get a Covid-19 test before or after traveling and do not need to self-quarantine on return, as long as they follow public health measures. In addition, the CDC says fully vaccinated Americans do not need a Covid-19 test for international travel unless it is required by the country they are traveling to, and they do not need to quarantine upon reentry to the U.S. Fully vaccinated Americans that choose to travel internationally do need to receive a negative Covid-19 test before boarding the flight back to the U.S.

The U.S. economy added 916,000 jobs in March. 

The labor market lost 22 million jobs in March 2020 and April 2020. It recovered 12 million of those jobs over the next six months, but then the pace of rehiring slowed drastically as the virus began a fall and winter spike. The new March data was the largest number of jobs added since August and the third-straight month of growth. 

Canada added 259,200 jobs in February, more than three times what economists were expecting. 

That follows other data this month indicating Canada’s economy is on pace to fully repair damage from the pandemic at least one year ahead of what most analysts were expecting only weeks ago. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for global growth for 2021 from the 5.5% expansion projected in January.  

That would follow an estimated 3.5% contraction in 2020, the worst peacetime outcome since the Great Depression. 

Futures prices for US corn, soybeans and wheat are the highest in 2014. 

Prices to buy or rent farmland are climbing as demand is driven by rallying food commodities prices, historic government payments and low interest rates. Time will tell if this means the bigger will get bigger and the rest will fall behind.  But in the short term, the farm economy looks strong. 

U.S. manufacturers expanded in March at the fastest pace in 37 years. 

This is a sign of strengthening demand as the pandemic wanes and government emergency aid flows through the economy. Americans have shifted their spending during the pandemic, as most consumers have been reluctant or unable to eat out, shop, or visit movie theaters as often as in the past. Instead, they have spent more on factory goods, such as new cars, furniture for expanded home offices, and workout equipment. 

Southwest Airlines Co. said it is buying 100 new Boeing Co. 737 MAX jets. 

With this order, plus other additions and revisions to previous orders, Southwest Airlines has 349 firm orders for MAX jets and options for 270 more. Other airlines including United have also placed recent orders.  This is a good sign that there is confidence in a near term economic rebound.  

According to the White House COVID-19 team, the US achieved 4.1 million vaccines in a single day on April 3rd. 

The US is now averaging 3.1 million shots per day over the most recent 7-day period. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans and over 40% of adults have at least one shot. Nearly 1 in 4 adults are now fully vaccinated. 

OPEC+ expressed growing confidence in the global economic recovery by agreeing to increase oil production gradually in the coming months. 

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will add more than 2 million barrels a day to world oil supplies from May to July. That will restore about a quarter of the crude they are still withholding after making deep cuts a year ago in response to the pandemic. 

The global seven-day average of commercial flights taking off each day hit on a post-pandemic high of 77,708 on Wednesday, April 1st. 

As prospects for a recovery in 2021 begin to emerge, Airports Council International (ACI) World estimates that while different regions will recover at different rates, at the country level, markets where most of the traffic is domestic are expected to recover to pre-Covid-19 levels in 2023.  This well ahead of markets where most traffic is international are unlikely to return to 2019 levels until 2024 or 2025. This is good news for places like the US which has a strong domestic market.