Employment rates in nearly one-third of the US states are still below pre-pandemic levels.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that employment rates in nearly one-third of the US states are still below pre-pandemic levels. Among them, California and New York have seen the biggest drop in employment rates, which may reflect an increase in immigration to other parts of the US.
According to household data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total number of employed people dropped by more than 1 million in 16 states. Since February 2020, employment numbers have also declined significantly in Maryland and Illinois.
In the past four years, the number of jobs in Los Angeles alone has dropped by 266,500, and the number of jobs in New York has dropped by nearly 133,000.
States where employment numbers have declined since the pandemic
Meanwhile, the number of employed people in Texas increased by 1 million compared to February 2020, followed by Florida, where the number of employed people increased by nearly 725,000.
Across the US, the labor market has recovered, and more people are working than before the pandemic, but an industry and geographic analysis shows that the job market is very different from before.
Although employment levels as measured by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey picked up in 2022, some industries are still struggling.
According to data from the Atlanta Federal Reserve, the number of people employed in the OPTICS category is about 1.9 million fewer than the 2019 level. Jobs in the OPTICS category include office and administrative support, production, transportation and material handling, installation, maintenance and repair, construction and mining, and sales, accounting for 41% of jobs in 2019.
In the year or so after the outbreak of the epidemic, there was an oversupply of labor. However, with the opening up of the economy and businesses after the pandemic lockdown, this situation was reversed, boosting wages and helping to reduce unemployment.
US labor demand is still higher than supply. Despite this, the gap is narrowing, showing regional differences.
Demand for labor continues to exceed supply
In February, North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate of 2%, followed by South Dakota at 2.1%. California's unemployment rate is 5.3%, the highest in the nation, followed by Nevada at 5.2%, and Illinois and New Jersey at 4.8%.
In many western states, the unemployment rate is almost a full percentage point higher than it was four years ago. In New York, the unemployment rate rose from 4.3% to 5.1% last month.
Changes in the unemployment rate by state in the US
