That's actually a really good point. Economists should track statistics from these gig apps as an alternative measure of unskilled unemployment. If gig app wages are low, that suggests unemployment is high in a way that's not being picked up by official stats.

Gigs are part of the sinkhole; funneling money from those struggling to get by to the app-makers and their investors. At best, gigs are the pretty-but-slippery wallpaper lining the sinkhole many have fallen into, and can't climb out of because the apps unilaterally decide how small the gig-workers' share of the revenue is.