Job Openings are at 8 Million
The March employment report finds that job openings are at 8 million, and employers report they are having an ever-harder time finding workers to fill them. Over 6 million Americans were hired in March for new jobs.
In the same week, the new jobs report found that only 266,000 new jobs were created in April; economists had projected one million would be created. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-gains-disappointing-266-000-jobs-in-april-but-all-signs-still-point-to-faster-hiring-in-months-ahead-11620391689 Unemployment is at 6%, and wage increases have been minimal (0.3%). Most of the job growth has been in the leisure and hospitality industries. New UI claims are falling and the unemployment rate is falling, but the economy has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels. https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf
Republicans say that the UI benefits ($300 extra a week) should be eliminated now to give unemployed workers the financial incentives to take the available jobs, and several states like South Dakota are moving to do so. The Democrats say that unemployed women need child care, Covid vaccinations and school reopening to be able to re-enter the job market safely and that hourly wages should be increased. Another possibility is that the data on new jobs creation was simply wrong. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-jobs-report-whodunit-the-prime-suspects-for-weak-hiring-gains-in-april-11620405937
California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed new slots for child care, stimulus checks (tax rebates) and help for unpaid rent, mortgages and utilities with the state’s projected $75 billion surplus for the coming year. This is a one time expenditure and will be much appreciated by those who have been most harmed by the pandemic, but it does not address the pressing California problems of homelessness, housing affordability, drought, wildfires, and poorly performing public schools for both rural and urban children.
To me, Biden’s proposals to spend on infrastructure (physical and social) and on strengthening family supports are the best approaches to improving the long term productivity of the American economy and the well-being of American workers.
The good news to take away from all this is that the US economy is coming back strong and some serious proposals are on the table for long term fixes to our economy’s big structural challenges: decaying infrastructure, a frayed and broken social safety net and ever-rising income inequality. But we don’t yet have enough Republican lawmakers on board either in DC or in many states to make the changes needed.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 5/11/21.