Hi folks, we're back on the charts after a week in the sun — recharged, refreshed and ready for more data. Today we're tackling:
In April 2020 the US economy saw more than 20 million people lose their jobs or exit the workforce. The word "unprecedented" certainly had its day in the sun, with some of the most memorable — if worrying — charts in recent memory, including this front page visual from the NYTimes.
The US economy, however, has slowly but surely clawed its way back.
Elevator down, stairs up
Over the last 27 months the US economy has seen the number of people in active employment grow by an average of 800,000 a month — taking total employment in the country back to almost exactly where we were in February 2020.Of course, employment is only one small piece of the economic puzzle.
People have returned to the workforce, but with inflation running at almost double-digits (%), wages aren't keeping up and people are concerned. Indeed, a recent survey from YouGov found that inflation is now the number one political or social issue for 24% of those surveyed. That's more than double the number who cited Health Care (10%), Climate Change (9%), Civil Rights (7%) or Abortion (6%) as their most important issue.
Chick-in, beef out
If you’ve found yourself perusing the meat aisles in recent months, perturbed by the price tags on the more-premium cuts of beef, you can rest easy knowing that you’re not alone — steak on the shopping list is getting rare.
In response to rising prices, Americans are turning to more affordable meats like chicken, with Tyson Foods — one of the world's largest meat processors — reporting that demand for chicken was still "extremely strong". Even so, chicken sales alone weren't enough to prevent the meat giant from missing its quarterly earnings target, with shares falling some 8% on Monday.
Where’s the beef?
Whilst the whatever-you-want-to-call-the-current-economic-situation certainly hasn’t helped red meat sales, Americans' consumption of beef has been waning for some time.
At its peak in 1976, there was 94lbs of beef produced and available per-person every year, roughly enough for everyone to have a Quarter Pounder each every single day. Since then however, consumer tastes — and thus availability — have changed, with chicken becoming America's most-favored meat by some margin.
Inflation-or-not, it would be surprising if beef consumption and production was even this high in 20 years from now, as an increasing number of Americans (roughly 10% currently) now reportedly identify as vegetarian or vegan. That's a number that's only likely to grow as more people ditch beef for environmental reasons — most studies suggest that the production of beef is far more damaging to the climate than any other food stuff.
For more on the emissions of different foods check out this guide from Our World In Data.
Yesterday crypto exchange giant Coinbase reported that its revenue had fallen more than 60% on the same quarter last year, leading to a $1.1bn loss — the company's second in a row.
Off-base
Coinbase's role as a crypto exchange operator has been made a lot harder in the last 6 months as cryptocurrencies have slumped. Indeed, 42 of the 50 largest cryptocurrencies have fallen in value this year. The two largest — Bitcoin and Ethereum — have both lost more than half of their value in the year-to-date.
Falling crypto markets have meant smaller transaction revenues for Coinbase, but it hasn't just been about the fall in prices. The company's active userbase — those making at least one trade per month — also fell, from 11.2m at the end of last year to 9m today. Taken together, this meant total trading volumes on the platform (in USD) fell by more than half.
As the largest US-based crypto exchange, and one of the 3 largest globally, Coinbase's results are a bellwether for the crypto sector more generally — but it hasn't been all bad news. Coinbase's total userbase did pass nine-figures, with 103 million total registered users now on the platform, and a new partnership with asset management giant BlackRock that could help the company reach an entirely new set of customers.
•Starbucks loves a heatwave — the company reported that 75% of their latest record revenue figures came from cold beverages.
• High fashion trolls Balenciaga are back at it again with a new designer trash bag that costs $1,800.
• Summer vacations just aren’t a thing in the US and Japan, according to Google data that’s been keeping tabs on when we’re at work.
•Dominos has now shut all 29 of its Italian stores after locals didn’t take to the chain’s attempt at their national classic.
• The $1.9B boba market is expected to grow 128% by 2028. All eyes are on Bobacino’s cost-cutting robotic kiosk that boasts 6X higher profit margins than competitors and $52M in revenue by 2025. Invest before 8/12.**
•Top Gun: Maverick is still soaring after overtakingTitanic at the US box office with over $662m in ticket sales.
• North America’s most-liveable cities (spoiler: the top 4 are in Canada.)
• British radio star has retired at 103 after a 70+ year stint of playing one character on The Archers, a 19,500 episode-strong BBC drama.
**This is sponsored content.
