13 votes

How Covid shook the US: Eight charts that capture the last two years

2 comments

  1. [2]
    Tlon_Uqbar
    Link
    Random question I got from this: Why was mining and logging hit so hard? Other sectors it makes intuitive sense why they lost jobs. But I'm not seeing the mining and logging connection.

    Random question I got from this:
    Why was mining and logging hit so hard?
    Other sectors it makes intuitive sense why they lost jobs. But I'm not seeing the mining and logging connection.

    2 votes
    1. AugustusFerdinand
      Link Parent
      I had wondered the same thing in late 2020/early 2021 and while there isn't any one specific reason, the overall consensus [pdf warning] is an overreaction to expected decreases in demand and the...

      I had wondered the same thing in late 2020/early 2021 and while there isn't any one specific reason, the overall consensus [pdf warning] is an overreaction to expected decreases in demand and the fact that there are many many links in the chain.

      An expected decrease in construction led to the initial layoff/reduction as 80% of the US timber industry is softwood and 70% of that goes to construction alone. Links are logging then transport then processing then final product; both of the latter two can be single or multi-stage processes and much of the industry works because of the economics of scale. There's little reason to fire up your link in the chain if there's not enough timber coming in. Add in that 63% of the land used for timber is privately owned, with 43% being owned by 10.6M individual families, and 90% of timber production is from private land. That's a lot of people that flat out may not want you on their land during a pandemic.

      2 votes