3 ms·

As I have watched these headlines, I have constantly been frustrated by the lack of analysis of what's really going on beyond the data point. Which industries

As I have watched these headlines, I have constantly been frustrated by the lack of analysis of what's really going on beyond the data point. Which industries lost jobs? Are the losses temporary due to lockdowns or a sign of an accelerating recession? Which regions lost the most jobs? Which income levels are most affected? What percent of jobless people are being covered by unemployment? And so on. A single data point is useless click bait. Who is building the Tableau dashboard and having an economist write weekly economic analysis for the general public? Without good information, our democracy is rudderless.

Clent 6y ago
Are you expecting that analysis to be in the headline itself? Several of the questions you pose are answered in the article. "The losses last month were concentrated among restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues. Educational services, mostly colleges and universities, also cut workers in December. So did film and music studios." " Economists say it could take several years for the labour market to recover from the pandemic." "contacts in the leisure and hospitality sectors reported renewed employment cuts due to stricter containment measures."
- dougmwne 6y ago
  Where are the graphs? Where is the data to back up those claims? Does "concentrated" mean 20% or 90%? Which economists said that and why did they say it? How many job cuts did the leasure and hospitality sector see? Without any summarized data to back up the claims, they amount to little more than unsourced opinions. I am asking for the opposite of a headline. I want a well source, data backed economic analysis for people who are interested in the deals but who are not economists, updated weekly or monthly in a consistent format.
maxerickson 6y ago
There's not lock downs in the US. There are some rules about how businesses can operate, but people aren't locked down. Here there is no in person dining. I think it would be pretty interesting to compare their revenues from 2019 to the periods during the pandemic where they have been open. My impression is that the 2020 numbers would be pretty weak, but I don't know.
- dougmwne 6y ago
  I am aware of there being recent regional stay at home orders in California. I believe that is usually what people mean when they use the term "lockdown," at least outside of the Chinese context where they had much more forcefully kept people in their homes. In addition, since we have a global economy, COVID restrictions in other countries could affect US jobs.
  - maxerickson 6y ago
    Yes, it's silly to call an order to stay home (unless you need food or to go to work or feel like exercising) a lockdown. And then the other side of it is the (very lax) enforcement. People leaving home for other reasons aren't getting fined or otherwise punished.
rtkwe 6y ago
> Are the losses temporary due to lockdowns or a sign of an accelerating recession? It's a little hard to know in the moment if a restaurant/store/etc can make it through because of the 'fixed' costs like rent (never mind that those could also be addressed but the GOP is suddenly really concerned about the deficit because there's a Democrat about to be in charge so it's time to be deficit hawks again). Also many huge unknowns hang over any attempt to guess about that and those are how long till vaccines are in enough arms to allow for thing to go more normal, how much support they get from the government, and what their expenses and savings are to begin with.

Clent 6y ago

Are you expecting that analysis to be in the headline itself? Several of the questions you pose are answered in the article. "The losses last month were concentrated among restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment venues. Educational services, mostly colleges and universities, also cut workers in December. So did film and music studios." " Economists say it could take several years for the labour market to recover from the pandemic." "contacts in the leisure and hospitality sectors reported renewed employment cuts due to stricter containment measures."

dougmwne 6y ago
Where are the graphs? Where is the data to back up those claims? Does "concentrated" mean 20% or 90%? Which economists said that and why did they say it? How many job cuts did the leasure and hospitality sector see? Without any summarized data to back up the claims, they amount to little more than unsourced opinions. I am asking for the opposite of a headline. I want a well source, data backed economic analysis for people who are interested in the deals but who are not economists, updated weekly or monthly in a consistent format.

maxerickson 6y ago

There's not lock downs in the US. There are some rules about how businesses can operate, but people aren't locked down. Here there is no in person dining. I think it would be pretty interesting to compare their revenues from 2019 to the periods during the pandemic where they have been open. My impression is that the 2020 numbers would be pretty weak, but I don't know.

dougmwne 6y ago
I am aware of there being recent regional stay at home orders in California. I believe that is usually what people mean when they use the term "lockdown," at least outside of the Chinese context where they had much more forcefully kept people in their homes. In addition, since we have a global economy, COVID restrictions in other countries could affect US jobs.
- maxerickson 6y ago
  Yes, it's silly to call an order to stay home (unless you need food or to go to work or feel like exercising) a lockdown. And then the other side of it is the (very lax) enforcement. People leaving home for other reasons aren't getting fined or otherwise punished.

rtkwe 6y ago

> Are the losses temporary due to lockdowns or a sign of an accelerating recession? It's a little hard to know in the moment if a restaurant/store/etc can make it through because of the 'fixed' costs like rent (never mind that those could also be addressed but the GOP is suddenly really concerned about the deficit because there's a Democrat about to be in charge so it's time to be deficit hawks again). Also many huge unknowns hang over any attempt to guess about that and those are how long till vaccines are in enough arms to allow for thing to go more normal, how much support they get from the government, and what their expenses and savings are to begin with.