Figure 2.

Percentage-point change in consumer spending in the United States from January 2020, by face mask mandate status: event study results. The dotted vertical line indicates reopening date. Consumer spending data are from Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker and are measured as the seasonally adjusted credit/debit card spending in all merchant category codes and calculated as the percentage change in value compared with January 2020 (the baseline period). The model controlled for COVID-19 case rates and death rates and included county and day fixed effects (ie, binary indicator variables for each county and day of the year). All analyses were weighted by county population and estimated with robust SEs clustered at the county level.