The news tells us about the world economy or the national economy, or even the economy in a specific region. This is easy to talk about, statistically driven and apparently important to everyone. But in reality this has absolutely nothing to do with your day, your job and your approach to life. If the unemployment rate in market research doesn't match the national numbers, the national numbers don't matter so much. Economics used to be stuck in geography. Now, as markets and industries transcend location, useful economic stats describe the state of the people you're working with and selling to.