Future of work
A curated resource of recent research on trends shaping Canada's labour market.
In this paper, the authors address the challenges faced by policymakers during the COVID-19 pandemic by building a freely accessible platform. The platform tracks economic activity at a granular level in real time using anonymized data from private US companies. Specifically, the report includes weekly statistics on consumer spending, business revenues, employment rates and other key indicators disaggregated by county, industry and income group. Self-isolation driven by health concerns caused a sharp reduction in consumption levels. However, state-ordered re-openings of the economy have had little impact on local employment. Paycheck Protection Program loans have also had little impact on consumption and employment for small businesses. The analysis suggests that it may be more helpful to mitigate economic hardship during a pandemic through social insurance.