COVID-19 has been the defining force of 2020, transforming lives the world over. Beyond its health effects, COVID\u2019s economic effects have been similarly devastating. As many businesses closed their doors, reduced staff, or shut down entirely, global unemployment soared.<\/p>\n
Amidst this economic fallout, at Looka we\u2019ve noticed an interesting side-effect: an increase in entrepreneurship. As lockdowns struck and unemployment rose, the number of people building businesses skyrocketed<\/a>. Like the Great Recession<\/a>, the economic uncertainty from COVID-19 has motivated many to take their career into their own hands.<\/p>\n
To track trends in entrepreneurship during COVID-19, a combination of methods was used which you can read below.<\/p>\n
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On February 26, the first case<\/a> of COVID-19 with no clear source of exposure was found in California.<\/p>\n
During the week of March 25, a record 6.6 million<\/a> Americans filed for unemployment benefits.<\/p>\n
In the week of April 1, another 6.6 million<\/a> Americans filed for first-time unemployment, bringing the total claims to 16 million. This week also saw the U.S. searches for terms related to logos up +2% YoY from 2019<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
The week of April 22 saw logo-related searches +28% higher than 2019<\/strong>. That same week, the national unemployment number hit 30 million<\/a>, which meant 18% of the U.S. workforce was unemployed.<\/p>\n
In the week of May 6, 3 million<\/a> more Americans filed for unemployment\u2014raising the total to 36.5 million over the past eight weeks. This same week, search reached a +33% increase from 2019. Sales also began to lift, with a +10% increase in revenue<\/strong> compared to the same week in 2019.<\/p>\n
In the week of May 27, first-time unemployment claims dropped to 1.8 million<\/a>, a sign that the economy might be on the road to recovery. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported the U.S. economy gained 2.5 million jobs<\/a> in May, while the unemployment rate dropped to 13.3%\u2014compared to 14.7% in April.<\/p>\n
This month also saw U.S. employers add 1.8 million jobs<\/a>, bringing the unemployment rate down to 10.2%. However, compared to June\u2014which saw a record 4.8 million jobs added\u2014July\u2019s rate of job growth was dramatically slower than the previous month.<\/p>\n
U.S. job growth continued to slow in August, with only 1.4 million jobs<\/a> added. Still, unemployment continued to fall, from 10.2% in July to 8.4% in August.<\/p>\n
Compared to both July and August, job growth dipped dramatically in September, with only 661,000 new jobs<\/a> added. Again, unemployment fell slightly from 8.4% to 7.9%, and the number of people collecting unemployment benefits declined to 26 million in mid-September.<\/p>\n
This month also saw a further slowdown in economic recovery, as only 638,000 jobs<\/a> were added to the U.S. economy. As unemployment reached 6.9%\u2014less than half of the 14.7% seen in April\u2014the economy still showed the deep marks of a pandemic-triggered recession. With only 54% of the 22 million jobs lost abruptly in the spring of 2020 recovered, the slow job gains of the past few months had only made a small dent.<\/p>\n
Again, the increase in search continues to level out, with both the week of November 4 and the week of November 28 seeing only a +14% YoY increase in logo searches<\/strong>. It\u2019s important to note that the week of November 4 was directly following the US election. The uncertainty of the weeks following the election likely dampened interest in entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n
As winter approaches and the previous flood of searches fades, logo sales can be expected to decrease as well. But with the second wave taking hold and more businesses closing, there may be a revived interest. However, for now, the colder months may be tempering some of the optimism felt earlier in 2020.<\/p>\n
At the start of COVID-19, as many countries were going into lockdown, Looka\u2019s traffic and sales dropped. When we saw our numbers start to rise again in April, we wanted to understand why.<\/p>\n
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To help new entrepreneurs and understand their experiences, we offered free logos<\/a> to people who had lost jobs due to COVID-19. This program also let us ask about their motives.<\/p>\n
The growth in search trends for logo-creation related keywords was seen on a global scale as well. Below is a snapshot of the ballooned interest in logo generation that COVID-19 accelerated for entrepreneurs and small business owners.<\/p>\n
Italy<\/strong><\/p>\n
Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n
France<\/strong><\/p>\n
UK<\/strong><\/p>\n
Germany<\/strong><\/p>\n
New Zealand<\/strong><\/p>\n
Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n
If you are an entrepreneur starting a new business during COVID-19 we’d love to hear your story! Reach out to our customer support team and tell us about your business by clicking the speech bubble at the bottom-right corner of your screen.<\/p>\n