The economy is now just 1.6 million jobs — or 1% — short of where it was in February 2020, before the pandemic hit, according to the BLS. That means the country is on pace to bounce back from the pandemic recession almost eight years faster than it took to recover from the Great Recession.
Several labor market measures are already close to their pre-Covid levels, the BLS said Friday. That includes the total number of unemployed people, which fell to 6 million in March, as well as the number of permanent job losers, which declined to 1.4 million.
The labor force participation rate, which was a sore point for economists for much of the recovery, also ticked up slightly to 62.4%. While that’s still a whole percentage point below the February 2020 level as some workers remain on the sidelines, it has increased consistently over the past months.
In March, women made up the majority of new employees. The number of unemployed women, as well as those not in the labor force, declined.
As things are normalizing and workers return to their offices, the number of people working remotely because of the pandemic also declined, falling to 10% in March from 13% in February.
Wages rise further, boosting inflation
Wages increased again in March — good news for workers across the nation who have to deal with higher prices everywhere from the grocery story to the gas pump.
“Despite concerns about inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war, American businesses are still hiring at full throttle, while more people are returning to the labor force (including retirees), likely drawn by higher wages,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO, in a note to clients. “That’s great news for the economy.”
Between the ongoing worker shortage and rising prices for goods and services, wages are unlikely to come down any time soon, “fanning the inflation flames,” Guatieri said.
Source : CNN