In August, 1.4 million jobs were added to the economy, which led to unemployment rates to fall below 10%. This is perhaps a small sign of a better future, especially when the pandemic is still rampant across the U.S. With unemployment at 8.4%, signs of a slow recovery within the U.S economy are showing. Yet, half of the 22 million lobs lost between the February-April period have not been returned, and economists warn that in the coming month's financial conditions are going to take another downturn, saying that the worst is yet to come. Government jobs like those of temporary census workers have found recovery as 1/6 jobs have returned as of August, but this doesn't mean that other sectors have benefitted the same way. Departments like retail, hospitality, and education have improved their condition a little, but their losses are still apparent. The Republicans seem to be satisfied with the way they have helped this economic "turn-around' considering the jobs that have been created. At the same time, the opposition claims that the pandemic required better leadership, and no good has come from the way President Trump and co. Handled everything. Many companies have already burned through the aid they were given without signs of recovery. Also, some of the added money to unemployment benefits even expired at the end of July.
On the other hand, national factory activity is at an all-time high compared to 2019, home sales have been doing well, and the stock market has also seen some good times recently. The unemployed and underemployed who are eligible for aid are still at high numbers (29 million people). People are now staying more time unemployed than they really were in April, so that is also a terrible sign for the economy. People have lost their once stable jobs with benefits also expiring. According to economists, recovery will begin when Congress resumes sessions and works on these problems. A big fear of economists is also that these positive job numbers mentioned earlier might influence lawmakers into thinking their work is done, which is far from the truth. Not to forget that unemployment has a starkly disproportionate effect on women, and also minorities in terms of race. There is also an indication of incorrect measurements of jobs reported, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which will also definitely cause a lot of problems, especially when there is no room for such errors in this pandemic.
2 comments:
Even though unemployment is showing improvement, there are somethings which are a temporary improvement. The education system is doing well for now, but we can see that in the future because of the less interaction we have had in person can lead to many problems in education. Some restaurants are doing well, but when we think about it in the long term, we can see that they are going to lose a lot of money because they will still have to pay their rent. The little improvement doesn’t prove anything because it will get worse later.
There are also some job errors as well when they are talking about improvement like in the article but that is not really showing.
I think it will take years to recover the entire 22 million jobs lost due to the pandemic. Considering the changes COVID has forced in such a short period of time, we can see a lot of industries suffering, for example, travel, entertainment, and hoteling industries won't be up to there full potential until there is a vaccine. So the people working in these types of industries will suffer the most, especially the lower-paid workers. However, we can also see new industries and skills emerging post-pandemic, which have created jobs and help lower the huge unemployment rates. I think the FED and government should lower interest rates and increase subsidies which can help bridge the gap and lower unemployment rates as it supports economic activity in the long run.
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