as the u.s. braces for a summer surge in coronavirus infections, the economy is crashing \u2013 with gdp down at an annual rate of 33 percent last quarter, and a 10 percent drop from the first quarter \u2013 the worst declines in more than 70 years of record-keeping. and new jobless claims in the latest week rose by 867,000 to 17 million.<\/p>\n
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earlier this year, before covid struck, the numbers boded just fine. the future looked good. only one half of one percent of accountants felt their clients were going to suffer a \u201cmuch worse year,\u201d and fewer than 9 percent thought their clientele might be \u201csomewhat worse\u201d off. plus, 42 percent figured their clients would do at least “somewhat” better in the year ahead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
the invisible enemy, all 125 nanometers of it, has changed all that. the pessimistic 9 percent of the early season has now swollen to 55 percent, according to accountants who responded in july. hardly any accountant (less than 3 percent, technically) thinks their clients will do \u201cmuch better\u201d this year, though an optimistic 14 percent persist in believing their clients will do \u201csomewhat better.\u201d<\/p>\n
maybe the optimists should include the 32 percent who think their clients will do neither better nor worse than they did in 2019. even \u201cno change\u201d seems optimistic these days.<\/p>\n
clients and practitioners certainly share a similar fate. the clients\u2019 doom is the accountants\u2019 gloom, and the latter know it.<\/p>\n
in the sunny days of january and february, no one \u2013 yes, actually, zero percent \u2013 thought their own firms would do “much worse” in 2020. the july number is still low\u20141.7 percent\u2014but a disturbing 22 percent fear a \u201csomewhat worse\u201d year ahead.<\/p>\n
a minuscule 4 percent of july respondents are looking forward to a “much better” year for their firms, and 28 percent still think their firms might have a \u201csomewhat better\u201d year.<\/p>\n