Which Jobs Are Recovering the Fastest?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your money briefing for Friday, July 10th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. Four months after businesses closed their doors and laid off millions of workers, there are signs that the pandemic is loosening its grip on the nation's labor market. The number of Americans receiving jobless benefits last week fell to its lowest level since mid-April. But government data indicates a full recovery could take months, if not years.
How fast is the U.S. labor market recovering from the pandemic job losses?
In the last few weeks, we saw a growing number of small businesses saying either they were closed or they were giving their workers fewer hours. And that's a concerning trend because it could suggest that as COVID cases have been again on the rise, businesses are reacting by either reclosing or seeing less demand and not needing as many workers to provide their services.
So who's been hit hardest by the pandemic and who's recovering the quickest? Our reporter Eric Morath will join us with details after the break.
The pandemic wiped out a decade of job gains in a matter of weeks earlier this year. And while many of those jobs have returned, there are still millions of Americans out of work. Our labor economics and policy reporter Eric Morath has been looking into government data to see where jobs have been lost and where we're seeing recovery. So Eric, what pace of recovery do economists expect in the labor market?
Which demographic groups saw the biggest job losses and why were Hispanic workers hit hardest?
We saw that about 21 million jobs were lost in March and April. And then so far in May and June, about 7.5 million were recovered, or about a third. So even at that pace, it would take us into the end of the year to recover all the jobs. But economists have warned that the recent job growth this spring is likely to slow substantially in the coming months. So it certainly could take well into next year before we see all the jobs lost recovered.
How did job losses and recovery differ for Black, Asian, and white workers?
Now, every demographic group was hit hard by the pandemic, but tell me about how Hispanic workers have fared.
Yeah, Hispanic workers were hit the hardest, and I think that represents the industries which Hispanic workers are overrepresented in, particularly places like hotels and restaurants. Largely, those businesses were shut completely in parts of March and April, and so the job loss was strongest in that area. As those businesses have been allowed to reopen, we've seen the strongest job growth also among Hispanic workers.
And how did the pandemic affect Black and Asian workers?
Which education and age groups were least and most likely to lose jobs during the pandemic?
Black and Asian workers both saw pretty substantial job losses. Black workers was the second worst of the four groups tracked by the Labor Department. And then, you know, in the recovery, both groups have seen job growth at a much slower pace than for whites. Yeah, white workers did lose a substantial number of jobs, but they lost jobs at the slowest pace among the four racial groups and have regained jobs at the second best pace following Hispanic workers.
Which industries lost the most jobs and which sectors are rebounding fastest?
And across all demographics, who was the least likely to lose their jobs?
Well, the group least likely to lose their job were the best educated workers. Those workers were most likely to have jobs where they could transition to work remotely, work from home. People that generally work in offices.
What do small-business and public-sector trends indicate about the sustainability of the job recovery?
And then some highly educated workers, you know, you can think of doctors, you know, they were, you know, called to duty and therefore, you know, kept on the job during this crisis.
And going through the numbers, did age make a difference in terms of who lost their jobs?
Yes, we saw that younger workers are the most likely, those younger than 24, to lose their jobs. And I think that shows that they are most likely to work at jobs that require you to report in person. Think about working at a mall or some other types of services. And when they're not allowed to even show up to work, of course, they're more likely to lose their job than an office worker that might be able to transition their computer to their basement.
So when you trace job losses among men and women, what does the data tell you?
Women lost jobs at a faster rate than men so far in this coronavirus pandemic.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–0:29
2
How fast is the U.S. labor market recovering from the pandemic job losses?
0:29–1:27
3
Which demographic groups saw the biggest job losses and why were Hispanic workers hit hardest?
1:27–1:54
4
How did job losses and recovery differ for Black, Asian, and white workers?
1:54–2:28
5
Which education and age groups were least and most likely to lose jobs during the pandemic?
2:28–2:56
6
Which industries lost the most jobs and which sectors are rebounding fastest?
2:56–3:13
7
What do small-business and public-sector trends indicate about the sustainability of the job recovery?
3:13–6:18
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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