A: “Great trend, but terrible levels.”
That’s the TL;DR from well-respected labor economist Aaron Sojourner in response to last week’s release of the March 2021 jobs report.
👍🏼 The good news: The numbers roundly beat Dow Jones expectations. (Expectations: 675k added jobs; Actuals: over 900k added jobs). Yay!
👎🏼 The less good news: The economy was still approx. 10 million jobs below pre-pandemic trend (see viz below).
The President’s Council of Economic Advisers estimates that we could be back to pre-pandemic employment by the end of this year if this faster pace of job growth continues.
We Nerdy Girls celebrate the emerging green shoots while also continuing to hold in our hearts those eager but unable to work.
Love,
Your Nerdy Girls
IMAGE CREDIT: Bureau of Labor Statistics via the Council of Economic Advisers
References:
Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report news release
Note: We policy/econ nerds wait with bated breath every month in anticipation of this report 🤓
Associated Aaron Sojourner Twitter thread (quoted in short A)
Actuals vs. Dow Jones expectations
