Labor Force Participation ‘Quite Depressed’ Versus Pre-Pandemic Levels, Yellen Says

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the CARES Act, at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington on Sept. 28, 2021. Kevin Dietsch/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that labor force participation was “quite depressed” compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“When we really get control of the (COVID-19) pandemic, I think labor supply will go back to normal,” Yellen told CBS' “Face the Nation” in an interview on Friday.

Yellen said there were several reasons for an “abnormally low” supply of labor, including a shortage of childcare workers and educators, which “creates childcare problems.”

“That also tends to suppress labor supply,” she added.