Member-only story
Jobs, Jobs Everywhere, and Not a Soul to Work
Big problems with unemployment will persist through 2021
Jobs Are Coming Back
In case you didn’t hear, the US added 916,000 jobs in March, reducing the unemployment rate to 6%
By any measure, this is fantastic news, considering that a 5% unemployment rate is considered “full” employment.
But we are not in “any” times.
We are in a deep hole that will take a long time to get out of.
First, we would need a highly improbable run of equally high months to get back the jobs lost since the initial shutdowns.
“Even at a million [additional] jobs a month — which would be an incredible number — we’re still looking at least into 2022 before we get to pre-pandemic levels,” added Bostic, who was speaking during a presentation to the World Affairs Council of Atlanta on Tuesday.
“We’ve still got a ways to go on the employment front before I think we’ll be in a position to really exhale and let the marketplace play out as it will.”
Second, there are some unique obstacles to overcome along the way.
One might call them an albatross around our collective necks.
