Advertisers signal glimmers of optimism

Here we are at the beginning of May. Many businesses still can’t restock inventory, but the initial jolts to supply chains and fulfillment systems have somewhat subsided. The mortality rate attributed to COVID-19 declined in the U.S. last week, “but remains significantly elevated.” Roughly half of small businesses said they could survive just two months in late March, and the gradual reopenings by states are now “a source of uncertainty rather than confidence,” for many of them. Overall, business confidence in the U.S. plummeted 17 points in April.