Bloomberg’s Matthews on covering economic trends

Lauren Meller of Bloomberg’s public relations staff interviewed Bloomberg News economics reporter Steve Matthews on how he covers economic trends.

Here is an excerpt:

You recently wrote a story about how some states have been slower than others to recover from the economic downturn. Is there any pattern to the successes and failures of different states
A: When I started work on the story, I knew some of the states that were at the center of housing bust — Nevada, Florida, Georgia and Arizona — suffered more than others and had yet to fully recover. And the data we gathered, with Alex Tanzi leading the effort, really supported that. And some energy-dependent states — North Dakota stands out, but there are others – have had a great run the past few years. What was surprising is how many other states were doing poorly for a variety of reasons. New Jersey has struggled with casino closings in Atlantic City and pharmaceutical industry layoffs. New Mexico has been hurt by government spending cutbacks. I could go on.

Subjects like job loss and economic recovery can be sensitive topics, especially for the people living them. How do you balance telling a story with data with getting the personal angle from the people affected?
I want to be sure that a story holds up both, as I talk to people who are involved in the subject and with hard data. I cover the regional Fed banks and travel a lot for the job, and make an effort to talk to people wherever I go — taxi drivers, hotel clerks, local folks who attend the Fed speeches, economists and others. I am very interested in regional economics and often will come up with an idea as I talk to local folks. While job loss is definitely a sensitive subject, I have interviewed dozens of unemployed people — and lots of underemployed folks too — and am always struck by how determined and optimistic they are.

Read more here.