The December 2021 digit numbers just released – which showed the fewest new jobs in any month of last year – are one of several pieces of evidence that shed light on the not-so-great economy we’re in right now. Or at least one that is far from normal. Meanwhile, the Omicron-Covid variant continues to rage in the US, taking punitive tolls on the economy in various ways. For example, staffing is a problem everywhere from restaurants to movie theaters to commercial flights. Inflation is also dangerously high. And despite everything, nobody gets a new economic check from the federal government anytime soon.
The above-mentioned job report from December showed that the economy only created 199,000 jobs in the last month. Economists had hoped for twice that number. It should be noted that the ADP’s December jobs report showed a little over 800,000 new jobs in the last month, which is pretty much the textbook definition of a mixed message here.
As for me, I’m relying on what I see around me with my own eyes. This is why I say – the numbers can show whatever they show. Things are absolutely not normal at the moment. Imagine that you are an economist and you try to analyze the job market carefully, as employees are either permanently or temporarily laid off because Covid keeps customers at home (or maybe the boss simply cuts his working hours).
Then there is the so-called Great Resignation, where people decide they want to do something more meaningful with their lives in the midst of a pandemic, outside of a job they hate. All of these things play out very differently at the local level depending on where you live. That makes it even more difficult to get a solid view of the US economy as a whole. What is more? Much of the job data is directed backwards. This makes about as much sense as looking at last month’s medical records for someone who died today – and then convincing yourself that those data prove that the person in question is reasonably healthy and alive We have said all of this to emphasize once again that this is another reason why the picture of stimulus checks and payments will be far from uniform this year. Because the economic picture is so strikingly different in the regions of the country.
In the state of California, for example, as of December 31, 794,000 Golden State Stimulus 2 checks totaling $ 568 million had been sent to eligible citizens. According to the state’s Franchise Tax Board, this final mailing should be completed by January 11th.
Some basic income experiments are also underway in other cities. The payments to local residents serve as their own kind of « incentive » to stimulate economic activity.
Andy is a Memphis reporter who also works for outlets like Fast Company and The Guardian. When he’s not writing about technology, he bends over his growing vinyl collection protectively, cultivating his Whovianism, and starring in a variety of TV shows you probably don’t like.
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