- Yelp Economic Recovery Report sees major increase in business reopenings in the second quarter of 2021
- New business applications also rise, hitting fastest pace since 2004 for period between June 2020 and May 2021
- Report also identifies stronger increase in consumer activity in populations with greater increase in population vaccinated against COVID-19
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
Businesses have been reopening and entrepreneurs have been filing applications to start new businesses at a swift pace, according to Yelp’s latest Economic Recovery Report. The business review platform also identified a correlation between higher COVID-19 vaccination rates and a stronger return of pre-pandemic consumer activities.
A total of 60,502 businesses reopened in the second quarter of 2021, the highest volume since late 2020. These included 38,725 businesses reopening in April and 22,441 restaurants and food businesses that reopened during the quarter.
Applications for new businesses between June 2020 and May 2021 were proceeding at their fastest pace since 2004, with Yelp recording 150,940 new business listings in the second quarter of 2021. A total of 1,361 businesses opened in Connecticut, up 12.8 percent from the second quarter of 2019.
- Using comparisons with COVID-19 vaccination data provided by the Centers for Disease Control, Yelp found that an increase in vaccinated people in a specific geographic idea in April correlated with a significant increase in consumer interest on Yelp in May and June
- The 10 states with the highest increases in the percentage of vaccinated people in April had monthly consumer interest surges of 25 percent or greater in May and June, while eight of the 10 states with the lowest increase in vaccinated people saw consumer interest increase by less than 25 percent
- Connecticut saw an 18.1 percent increase in its vaccinated population in April and a 32.6 percent increase in consumer interest in May and June
