More Than Half of U.S. Business Closures Permanent, Yelp Says

More than half of the business closures that were temporary when the Covid-19 outbreak began are now considered permanent, according to Yelp Inc.

Of the 132,580 closures listed on its website as of July 10, 55% are permanent, up 14 percentage points from the end of June, according to the Yelp’s Economic Average Report released Wednesday. More than 72,000 businesses have permanently shut down, with California, Texas and Florida accounting for the largest share.

When there’s a major outbreak in a state, consumers are less interested in frequenting businesses where it’s difficult to social distance, according to the Yelp ...