As the U.S. starts to reopen, people aren’t rushing back to work
With many low-paying jobs in the U.S. going unfilled, even after employers have offered enticing sign-on bonuses, it seems that the COVID-19 crisis has forced a much-needed adjustment in a labor market where workers had long suffered from a decline in bargaining power.
But, as pandemic-support programs end and automation accelerates, workers face serious risks. 3,839,000 people filed for unemployment benefits for the very first time. That brings the six-week total over the past six weeks to about 30 million people out of work.
We’re talking one in five workers in the United States in the space of six weeks now out of a job, furloughed, or frightened for the future of their jobs. The US unemployment rate reached 14.7% in April. That is the highest it’s been since the Great Depression. But as the U.S. starts to reopen, people aren’t rushing back to work. Many are even quitting the jobs that they currently perform. What is going on?
According to The Wall Street Journal, nearly 20% of all jobs posted on job search site ZipRecruiter in June 2021 offered a signing bonus, up from 2% of jobs advertised on the job search site in March. The states with the highest shares of job listings that include a signing bonus are Iowa, Missouri, Vermont, Wyoming and Arkansas, according to ZipRecruiter labor economist Julia Pollak.
Hiring bonus offers start at $500 and quickly rise from there. Job postings across sectors show that a $1,000 hiring bonus is quickly becoming table stakes in recruiting hourly workers who make between $16.50 and $25 an hour. The $1,000 hiring bonus is advertised on jobs listed for apartment-complex groundskeepers in Texas, movers in Florida, cabinet makers in Georgia, housekeepers in Wisconsin, pool cleaners in New Mexico and welders in Ohio, among others.
Whether Drop in U.S. Retail Sales in July Indicate Fed’s Tapering Would be Inappropriate?
U.S. retail sales fell in July by more than forecast, reflecting a steady shift in spending toward services and indicating consumers may be growing more price conscious as inflation picks up.
U.S. Homebuilders No Longer Sure What To Do Even As Lumber Prices Crashed
NAHB Homebuilder Confidence crashed from 80 to 75 in August. That is a 13-month low (July 2020).
MP Materials – a Rarely Apparent Answer to Commodity Shortage on U.S. Market
There’s a massive commodity shortage looming for metals critical to the U.S.’s national security.
