employment

Understanding the composition of local economies requires looking beyond broad statewide or national trends. County-level data reveals the unique mix, or lack thereof, of industries and businesses in each area. Policy makers, by identifying which sectors drive employment and business activity within a locality, can influence the impact and design of regional innovation strategies to reflect local realities and potential.  

Availability of a new data tool developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that during the period surrounding the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was wide variation among the states on the ratio of unemployed persons per job opening.  Michigan peaked at 10.6 unemployed persons for each job opening, followed by Hawaii (10.3) and Nevada (10.2), far above most states, while others like D.C. (1.7) and Nebraska (2.1) and North Dakota (2.2) remained relatively unaffected.

The U.S. Census Bureau in February released a new experimental data product designed to better measure the business dynamics of innovative firms (BDS-IF). The new Business Dynamics Statistics of U.S. High Tech Industries provides measures of business dynamics for what the Census classifies as high-tech and non-high-tech industries, defined by science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupation intensity.

The 2020 pandemic was unique when it came to changes in the labor market. Unlike in previous recessions, most layoffs from the pandemic were temporary. While employment is back to pre-pandemic levels, the recovery has been uneven across states and industries, leaving some states still with a deficit while others have grown past 2019 levels.

Even employing a “conservative estimate of spillover jobs”, the Progressive Policy Institute’s updated report on employment related to the App Economy works out to just over one job per published application. Total January 2022 employment reported in PPI’s U.S. App Economy Update, 2022, was estimated at 2.564 million jobs. While up 1.7 percent from the August 2020 update, the figure is only nominally higher than the cited 2.1 million apps launched in 2021 alone.

Between March and April of 2020, the United States saw a massive drop in employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic: from approximately 151 million employees to fewer than 131 million. More than two years since the beginning of the pandemic, surveys suggest a near-complete recovery to pre-pandemic employment levels. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) through March 2022 (the most recent final data published by BLS) reveal an average decrease of just 1 percent in employment across the country as whole since February 2020. While the U.S.

The findings from a recent webinar and report suggest that Employment Social Enterprises (ESEs) are significant market-based mechanisms that can address workforce misalignment by supplying employers with skilled workers while increasing economic mobility and addressing structural employment barriers.

The April jobs report, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on May 7, generated considerable attention due to the 266,000 jobs added being far less than anticipated. Contributing to this topline number are quite a few trends moving in different directions, including a severe decline in automotive manufacturing employment — likely driven by the global semiconductor shortage — increasing restaurant and R&D employment, and declines in part-time work.

Last week not only marked the anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the release of updated employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The monthly data shows that the pandemic had a very unusual effect on workers, experienced both as a uniquely-chaotic period of labor force participation, but also as an unprecedented immediate drop in employment. The graphic captures just how chaotic the last year has been.

At a critical junction for the American workforce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF) has launched a new initiative to develop new models for investment in the workforce of the future.