What America Is Searching for

There's another gloomy sign that tomorrow's jobless claims data could set a new record: Americans have been asking Google about “unemployment” and “recession” in March more than they ever have before.

In fact, in just the first 20 days of March, Google search interest in “unemployment” exceeded volume in the entire  month of July 2010, the previous record, when the U.S. unemployment rate was at 9.5% and 14.6 million people were searching for work. "Recession" searches have also spiked recently.

Also visible in Google search trends is the unprecedented recent shift in how Americans work and play as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak and social-distancing measures put in place. Searches for “work from home” have tripled from December to March, to their highest levels ever.

That's been a boon for some companies, and a bust for others. New surroundings have required many to turn to videoconferencing tools to communicate with colleagues, clients, friends, and family. Searches for “videoconferencing” spiked in recent weeks, as more businesses told their employees to work from home and New York, California, and other states ordered most residents to stay at home to limit the spread of the virus.  "Delivery," "telehealth," and stay-at-home search terms have all soared this month.

As the rest of the stock market has sold off with record speed—the S&P 500 went from an all-time high to a bear market in just 16 days—companies that could benefit from that shift have seen their shares rise. Count Zoom Video Communications, Amazon.com, and Teladoc Health in that crowd.

Of course, there are also plenty of companies losing out on a significant amount of business during the current pandemic—perhaps none more so than those in the travel space. Google searches in the U.S. for “cancel flight” and “cancel cruise” soared in early March, to more than 20 times their volume just a month earlier.

Accordingly, shares of airlines and cruise lines are among those that have sold off the most since the market selloff began last month.

Here's more about how Americans' search habits have evolved this month.