Many small services businesses won't be able to reopen after COVID-19

Nearly all of the small leisure, hospitality and retail businesses in the U.S. that remain closed because of the pandemic will never reopen, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Roughly 35% of small businesses that were operational in February 2020 are still closed more than one year later, New York Fed economists found. Most have been shuttered for at least five months, including some that have been closed since the start of the pandemic.  Just 3% of currently closed businesses will ever reopen, according to the analysis. The share of closed businesses peaked in early April 2020 at around 60%. Some small businesses shuttered temporarily but successfully reopened once it became safe to serve customers again. according to the analysis,