“When you first see Jacob, he is down on his luck; he’s very sad. He is depressed about losing Queenie and he feels kind of abandoned. He’s back in New York and you get a hint that it may be the beginning of the Great Depression, because things are starting to get rundown and he’s in a state of loss: he’s lost Queenie, he’s lost his appetite, and it looks like he’s losing his bakery. He is at the point where he is just so tired and rundown and hungry that he’s done. He’s done with the whole wizarding world situation. He just wants to get past this point, get on with his life. And that’s when they come knocking again.”
Source: Bearpost