Dr. Chhoda has been exploring ways to help the Ignition Time community ‘return to normal’ for several weeks now, in an effort to help our community return to some semblance of ‘normal’
This begs the question “How much longer until the US economy is back to normal?” and more specifically “When will things return to normal in my state?”
Mark Zandi from CNN Business Perspectives addressed this (and may other questions), as CNN Business and Moody’s Analytics partner to create a ‘Back-to-Normal Index’.
The index shows which states are closest to and furthest from returning to their pre-pandemic economies. Mark Zandi is the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. The opinions expressed in his commentary are his own and you can read his commentary using the link in the description below. Dr. Chhoda analyzes his commentary for the Ignition Time community.
Based on the Back-to-Normal Index in the article, the US economy was operating at only 78% of normal as of August 19. “Normal” for the purpose of the commentary is the economy as it stood prior to when the pandemic struck in early March. Economic activity nationwide is down by almost one-fourth from its pre-pandemic level — far from normal.
In this video, Dr. Chhoda highlights national, state-specific and sector-specific unemployment trends through the lens of the “Back to Work Index”.