Are we recovering? "Optimists point to the rapid decline in the unemployment rate after the first wave of the pandemic—from nearly 15% in April to 6.7% in November— as a reason for a speedy recovery. Pessimists' go-to statistic is the high and rising rate of the long-term unemployed, those who have been out of work for more than six months. It has risen from 0.7% of the labour force in February to 2.5% today." -From The Economist - Jan 2, 2021 (America's Jobs Market. Speed Limits) The article recounts the fact that many people who are long-term unemployed have indicated that they are only temporarily laid off, while history and shows that over time, many of these jobs may not come back. Many people have dropped off the rolls altogether and are no longer looking for work. According to Jason Furman and Wilson Powell III of Harvard University, the real unemployment rate is 8.5%. Within the sectors of knowledge work, there has been a dramatic overnight shift to large nu...
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