High-Frequency Data and a Weekly Economic Index during the Pandemic

This paper describes a weekly economic index (WEI) developed to track the rapid developments associated with onset of and policy response novel coronavirus in United States. The WEI, its ten component series, tracks overall economy. Comparing contributions WEI's components 2008 2020 recessions reveals differences how two events played out at high frequency. During collapse recovery, it provides benchmark interpret similarities indicators shorter samples and/or nonstationary coverage, such as mobility indexes or credit card spending.