DEFINING THE SOUTH

In this report, the South is defined as the 12 states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Southern states include 217 of the 221 U.S. counties where the Black population is uniquely greater than the national average. ation of racial/ethnic group by county 2021

The Black Belt, vestiges of a there. The Appalachian dominated b struggled from job training,

To recover from any disaster, an assessment of damages is essential. In the case of Covid, the damage is not related to a single event. Instead, the pandemic has exacerbated multidimensional health and economic trends. As such, tracking Covid-related damage requires monitoring a number of metrics, each of which may change as conditions change. Additionally, shocks and stressors such as extreme weather continue to compound its impact.

This section tracks a select number of highly-vetted indicators to examine the extent of Covid-related damage to lives and livelihoods across our nation. It examines how people’s lives are faring, including decreases in life expectancy. It also tracks key dynamics in the national economy.

In later sections of this report, these indicators serve as a backdrop for a unique analysis of the complex interactions between the pandemic, the nation’s civic health, and Americans’ well being with deeper dives into pregnancy-related deaths, housing affordability, mental health and more.

Indicators in this section

● Covid-associated hospitalization rates, by age

● Life expectancy, by race/ethnicity

● Long Covid estimates, by state

● Motor vehicle deaths, by race/ethnicity

● Total jobs, by month

● Quits rate, by industry

● Change in corporate profits and labor income

● Disaster declarations, by county