COMP NEWS – Unemployment levels are finally returning to their pre-covid levels, with the unemployment rate dropping to around 3.8% in February,. It’s been a long journey, but the labor market shows strong signs of recovery after the pandemic.
The jobless rate, at 3.8% in February, is close to its 2019 average. Transportation firms and utilities have more employees than before the pandemic, and nationwide manufacturing hours are slightly above what they were in February 2020.
Regardless of the signals of a strong labor market recovery, there are still over a million job positions available across thousands of companies.
But the recovery, remarkable as it was after more than 20 million people lost their jobs in just a few weeks at the onset of the crisis, has been uneven. U.S. companies remain 1.4 million jobs short of their early 2020 levels, according an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, many of them in hotels, restaurants or hospitals.
The professional services, trade, transportation, and utilities industries saw the most positions filled while the leisure and hospitality industries are still struggling to fill job positions.
The professional services, trade, transportation and utilities sectors have added a combined 1.2 million workers as more people worked remotely and consumers ordered online. The gains almost made up for the 1.5 million shortfall in the leisure and hospitality industry, the hardest-hit by the virus.
The public sector is also below its pre-covid numbers with around 700,000 missing job positions, showing a weaker labor market recovery
The rebound has also been uneven in the public sector, which is still 681,000 payrolls below its pre-Covid numbers. In response to social-distancing restrictions — including virtual learning — and concerns over future budgetary challenges, state and local governments have cut payrolls. Many teachers and other workers also retired early.
While the country’s unemployment rate is dropping, key industries are still struggling to fill job positions and may struggle for a time to come.
To read more about the labor market’s strong but uneven recovery, click here.
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