Let’s Start with the Economic Background
- 2020 was not a good year by any measure with GDP, which stands for gross domestic product, down -2.2%. GDP, is a measure of our economy’s total output.
- If we look at the history of GDP annual growth, it helps us put that -2.2% decline in perspective against a back-drop of a +4% average growth over a 21-year period.
Unemployment also Paints an Ugly Pic for 2020
- Lockdowns led to a peak unemployment rate of 14.7% which is unprecedented in modern history.
- While that number seems to have normalized, something called the labor participation rate (the percent of eligible people who actually work jobs) is much lower post-covid.