America’s private employers in July added 943,000 jobs—a proxy for new hires—in a sign that the U.S. economy enjoyed a solid burst of job growth as the labor market recovery continues.
Ahead of the release, economists’ estimates varied widely—from 350,000 to as much as 1.6 million, according to a Reuters review of institutional forecasts.
But while the resurgence in COVID-19 infections poses a risk to economic recovery, there’s no sign yet of any significant impact.
“While the Delta variant has sparked a rise in COVID cases, there’s scant indication this is translating to a measurable reduction in economic activity in the U.S. so far, suggesting little meaningful impact on employment,” Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.
While economic output has fully bounced back to its pre-pandemic levels, the labor market recovery is trailing. After shedding over 22 million jobs in the first two months of the pandemic, the U.S. economy has since recovered nearly 17 million jobs.
While these measures are down considerably from their highs at the end of the February–April 2020 recession, they remain well above their pre-pandemic levels of 3.5 percent and 5.7 million in February 2020, the Labor Department said.
The brisk economic recovery has also driven down the number of American workers seeking unemployment benefits, which last week fell to a pandemic-era low, although the number remains historically elevated.
“It was about a year ago when new claims first fell below the 1 million level for the first time after the pandemic began. In total, some 12.9 million Americans continue to receive some form of jobless assistance, which remains historically elevated,” Hamrick said.
Some Republicans and economists have blamed generous unemployment benefits—in particular, the federal pandemic jobless compensation boost—for sidelining workers by discouraging them from taking jobs.
American businesses posted a record 9.2 million job openings in May, faster than applicants are showing up to fill them. In the face of business hiring difficulties, some two dozen states have moved to end early their participation in the extended federal unemployment programs.