Hannah Lang
speaker
27 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Feb 2021
last heard Feb 2021
Hannah Lang’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Job postings, though it's reassuring to see these numbers increase, they're really only one piece of a broader labor market recovery.
And we would need to see these numbers above pre-pandemic levels for quite some time to make up for the job losses that we've experienced over the past year or so.
Thank you so much for having me.
So obviously it is good news to see the number of job openings increase, but these numbers still pale in comparison to the number of Americans that are unemployed and looking for work, which is hovering around 10.7 million in December.
I spoke with the chief economist at job search site Indeed, and he pointed out that job postings, though it's reassuring to see these numbers increase, they're really only one piece of a broader labor market recovery.
And we would need to see these numbers above pre-pandemic levels for quite some time to make up for the job losses that we've experienced over the past year or so.
it's been a rough year for the labor market obviously there was the initial shock of the outbreak in the united states last spring when we saw unemployment claims skyrocket to historic levels and then over the summer when some reopenings were happening some restrictions were lifted we saw some industries pick back up and those industries
recovered rather quickly after the initial shock and have held relatively steady over the course of the pandemic.
That's industries like construction, warehousing, driving.
But then we had another setback over the course of the holidays when cases rose again and restrictions were put back in place.
And we saw the labor market enter what appears to be this sort of broader winter slowdown.
And what I'm hearing in my reporting is that this is likely due to a number of things.
You know, not only those new safety restrictions in some states, the rising case numbers that might create more fear about going out, leaving your house, going to restaurants, etc.
Winter weather makes it less appealing to go window shopping and participate in other forms of economic activity.
So the impressions of many economists and the small business owners that I've spoken with suggest that we're sort of undergoing this winter slowdown, this second hump that we have to overcome, and that we might have to wait until this spring to see things really turn around again with vaccine distribution and other improvements.
One thing to note about the job posting summaries that we saw, particularly from Indeed, is that it's not just being driven by these industries that have done relatively well over the course of the pandemic.
But there's also been a pickup in high wage sectors like tech and finance.
And when I spoke with the chief economist there, his impression was that really points to the fact that some companies are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.
These are sectors like leisure, hospitality, tourism, arts and entertainment, the types of things that in olden days required large groups of people to pack into a confined space.
And what I'm seeing and hearing is that a recovery for those sectors is pretty close to impossible as long as the virus is still circulating as quickly as it is in the United States right now.
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