For the first time in five months, a majority (53%) of those who have lost a job since the start of the coronavirus outbreak say they have returned to work, up from 38% in August and 29% in June. In total, more than one in five people across the country (22%) say they have lost their job since the start of COVID, according to the latest New York Times|SurveyMonkey poll.
Most people (59%) who still haven’t returned to work after having lost a job during COVID say they don’t expect to return to the same job they had previously at any point.
A majority of people (56%) say the country “should focus on controlling the coronavirus, even if that means keeping some businesses closed or shutting them back down.” Fewer people (41%), instead say that “we should focus on reopening the economy, even if that means there will be some more cases of the coronavirus.”
Eight in 10 Republicans and GOP leaners side with reopening over controlling the coronavirus, but a substantial 19% say the focus should be on controlling COVID despite the economic repercussions. On the other end, 88% of Democrats and Democratic leaners say the focus should be on controlling the virus. A majority of independents also favor controlling the virus over reopening quickly.
For more detailed results, click through the interactive toplines below.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
