By comparison, the jobless rate was 27 percent for waiters; 19 percent for cooks; and about 13 percent for retail salespeople over the same period. He said 95 percent of the local’s 7,000 members are not working on a regular basis because of the mandated shutdown. “It will create a great cultural depression,” he said. The public may think of performers as A-list celebrities, but most never get near a red carpet or an awards show. They work season to season, weekend to weekend or day to day, moving from one gig to the next.

Source: New York Times December 26, 2020 07:52 UTC