During the pandemic, women have taken the brunt of the damage to the labor force, whether in the form of losing their jobs or working triple-duty at home with child care and education on top of their work obligations. … READ MORE >
employment
Labor market update: Signs of normalization as long-term challenges persist
The labor market is showing signs of optimism that might best be described as hedging its bets—confident that the vaccination program will eventually allow the reemergence of the normal workplace, but recognizing that it may not take just a snap of the fingers to get there. … READ MORE >
March jobs report blows past expectations with best still to come
An American economy about to regain its swagger after a year of pandemic-induced crisis was on full display in the March jobs report. … READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Lagging employment in education and health care
Even as the economy begins to recover and jobs return, employment remains well below pre-pandemic levels in many key sectors. Two of these areas are education and the health care industry, according to the recent jobs data from the Labor Department. … READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: U.S. job openings improve
Workers are growing more confident in their ability to find a job, according to the most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 5.1 million separations from employment on the back of 6.65 million job openings during October, according to the survey. … READ MORE >
Pandemic economics: Prospects for permanent job losses rising
There has been an alarming increase in permanent job losses over the past six months. Whether and when those jobs reappear will determine the extent of the damage to the economy and, more important, the extent to which household balance sheets and accumulated wealth are impaired. … READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims are still six times higher than normal
We can add another 1.5 million Americans to the ranks of the newly unemployed. Initial jobless claims for the week ending June 13 are six times higher than the five-year average of 240,000 prior to the coronavirus pandemic. And in the 13 weeks since the shutdown of the economy, state … … READ MORE >
Weekly initial jobless claims: Much-needed context as claims rise by 1.5 million
While the pace of first-time jobless claims has declined over the past few weeks, such an improvement is still akin to saying someone has turned down the heat in hell. It is clear that the U.S. labor market remains impaired as first-time jobless claims increased by 1.5 million for the week ending June 13, and continuing claims advanced by 20.5 million. This is the thirteenth straight week in which claims have increased by more than one million. … READ MORE >
The post-coronavirus economy: What to expect, and what is needed
It is now time to begin considering the shape of the post-pandemic economy: What it will look like, whose interests are given preference and how fiscal and monetary policy will drive the American economy. … READ MORE >
Closer look at monthly jobs data shows the glass only half full
The monthly change in non-farm payrolls is closely followed by financial markets and is often the catalyst for outsized market moves. Analysis of the payroll data outside of the traditional focus on the latest monthly number shows some cracks in the decade-long recovery from the 2007-09 Great Recession, pointing to long-term issues that will likely need to be addressed by monetary and fiscal policymakers. … READ MORE >