Over a million jobs were added in July 2021, giving the impression that the American economy was rebounding. A full return to normalcy, however, is still difficult and out of reach, as seen by the facts that surfaced in the weeks and months that followed.
- In August 2021, the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent.
After the economic collapse brought on by the pandemic, the optimistic spring of 2021 gave way to a summer in which the jobless rate dropped to its lowest point since March 2020. Just over 8 million Americans were still without jobs by August. When more than a million new jobs were created in July, the unemployment rate fell by the most. However, more than 350,000 Americans had submitted their initial unemployment claims by the end of the third week of September.
- People over the age of 55 had the lowest jobless rate on record.
More experienced workers are performing better than their younger counterparts, according to US labor data. Only 3.9 percent of people aged 55 and over were unemployed as of August 2021. When compared to individuals between the ages of 18 and 19, who reported an unemployment rate of 11%, this is a striking difference. The situation is considerably worse for those between the ages of 16 and 17, where unemployment is 11.6 percent. It can be linked to the fact that coronavirus limitations were most severe in fields where young people labor.
- Over 17 million extra jobs have been added to the labor force since April 2020.
Employment in the US increased by 235,000 in August 2021, according to job market figures. Both in July and June, it increased by a staggering 1.1 million jobs. However, despite the addition of millions of new employments, the overall number is still fewer than the high point in February 2020. Professional and commercial services, the transportation and warehousing industry, manufacturing, and also education and health care, are some of the industries that contribute most to employment.
4. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent before the coronavirus outbreak, the lowest level since 1969.
According to earlier employment data, the job market reached a 50-year high at the end of 2019. The employment-to-population ratio increased to 61 percent as total employment impressively reached 158.6 million. By the conclusion of Q4 2019, there were 5.8 million jobless Americans, or 3.5 percent of the population.
5. The number of entry-level job opportunities on Glassdoor decreased by 68% in May 2020.
The epidemic cleared the path for the worst employment market in recent memory for college grads. During the first half of 2020, there were significantly fewer job postings relating to recent graduates. Seven out of ten recent grads applied for jobs at IT businesses in this historically unstable economic climate, with Amazon and Microsoft drawing the most applicants.
6. The economic effects of the pandemic might cause women to lose up to $600,000 in lifetime earnings.
Michael Markowitz, an economist at the Center for American Progress, performed a thorough data study for Newsweek and came to the conclusion that the epidemic will have long-term effects on women in the workforce. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 4.5 million women in the USA have left the labor force, and when they do return to the workforce, their future earnings are almost certainly going to be significantly lower. If they return to work by 2022, Madowitz estimates that women who were making a median salary of $47,299 before the epidemic might lose $250,000 in lifetime earnings. Those losses can increase to $600,000 if they don’t return until 2024.
7. According to data on the labor market, in June 2020, 42% of the US working force was employed remotely.
Many Americans are working remotely, according to research from Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. The coronavirus pandemic significantly exacerbated this tendency, which is not new. Only 33,4% of those who work remotely reported being effective, while 30.7% claimed they couldn’t work remotely.
8. By 2030, it is anticipated that there will be 165.4 million people working.
With an anticipated rise of 11.9 million jobs in less than 10 years, the Labor Department’s employment growth predictions indicate a more promising future. This is the result of an annual growth rate that was just revised upward to 0.7 percent. Surprisingly, the industry is predicted to add the most employment in healthcare.
9. In fewer than ten years, 586,800 jobs are expected to be lost in the retail industry.
The picture is particularly bleak for conventional brick-and-mortar retail operations when it comes to employment growth by industry. By 2030, it is anticipated that this industry would have lost more than 500,000 jobs due to falling demand and rising eCommerce popularity. Most jobs are expected to be lost in all industries at that rate.
Conclusion
It’s critical to monitor changes in the employment market and economy. Information that has been correctly evaluated might be the distinction between having a fantastic career and merely dreaming about it, with certain parts of the economy fighting to survive while others are making enormous profits.
