Twitchers feeling the pinch

February 8, 2009

A poll of Slowtwitch readers conducted last week, compared to the same poll taken of this same reader bloc in September of 2008, shows an uptick in negative financial impact on Slowtwitchers as the economy worsens.

Among the Slowtwitch reader base 522 answered the poll question last week (the second week of February, 2009), and 7.1 percent recorded losing their jobs as a result of the financial downturn. This, compared to the national average of 7.6 percent unemployed, as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Over two weeks in September of 2008, right after the economy took its initial, strident downturn, 732 Slowtwitchers took the same poll. At that time only 4.1 percent of Slowtwitchers reported losing their jobs due to the economic crisis, compared to an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent nationally, as reported by the Dept of Labor.

The rate of unemployment among Slowtwitchers caused by the slowdown in the economy has been almost as strident during the past 5 months as in the 12 months prior to September, 2008, when the unemployment rate nationally was hovering at 4.6 percent. Perhaps the recent months have been even more displacing on Slowtwitch readers, if we could show a baseline rate of job displacement when unemployment is traditionally low — but we do not have that data.

Another 7.1 percent of Slowtwitchers answered "yes" last week when asked if they "lost their fortune." This means a whopping 14% are feeling the economic woes in a very painful way. This, compared to 6.1 percent, who answered "yes" to the "lost your fortune" question last September.

In the September poll, another 53 percent chose the option "lost a little," compared to 58 percent in the recent poll. Only 28 percent are now opting to say their personal finances are "unaffected" by the economic downturn, a drop from 37 percent, who chose that option in September.