An analysis of federal labor data finds the US creative sector has lost more than 200,000 jobs since generative AI's debut, concentrated in film, TV and publishing, a decline one economist calls comparable only to the 2001 and 2008 recessions, this time with no broader downturn behind it.
how work was measured today
Counted layer · the radar, 233 of 309 sources reporting
Work's day ran 7.7 per 100 sources; usual is 9.0
counted 17:33 UTC · per 100 reporting · against 54 stamped days
1 day 7.7 −0.30 sd 3 days 8.2 −1.75 sd 7 days 9.7 −1.82 sd 0 10 20 per 100 reporting · tick = a stamped day 1 day 7.7 −0.30 sd 3 days 8.2 −1.75 sd 7 days 9.7 −1.82 sd 0 10 20 per 100 reporting tick = a stamped day The idea Each window counts the sources a day publishing on work, per 100 sources reporting, so a day when more sources report does not read as busier. The signed number is today’s distance from its usual, in standard deviations.
Look for The dot is today; each tick is one of the 54 stamped days before it. The band is the usual range, one standard deviation each side: 28 of 54 days fall in it. All three windows sit below their usual. The numbers -0.30 1 day, in standard deviations
7.7 sources a day per 100, today
9.0 its usual, the mean of 54 days
54 stamped days behind it
Limits It says the volume moved; it does not say why. It counts sources publishing, not a share of all talk. Under 14 stamped days a window reads early, a hollow dot; under 7 it does not print. How it is measured Per 100: sources publishing on the domain in the window, a day, over sources reporting that day, times 100. Usual: the mean of up to 56 stamped days before this sheet, one per scan, this sheet’s own scan left out; the spread is their standard deviation. Deviation: today less the usual, over the spread. src/data/cover-2026-10-26.json counted.domains, scripts/build-cover.py rep_scores.
This is the counted layer: how much the feeds we read published about work, per source reporting, against what they usually publish. The story above is the heard layer, written from sources. They are kept apart on purpose.
See every domain on the board .