New President Biden has made jobs a priority. But across the Atlantic, with only 266,000 jobs created, the figures were disappointing for the world’s largest economy. We are even far from the million creations expected by a consensus of analysts, and even beyond for the most optimistic of them, firmly believing in the economic recovery driven by the accelerated vaccination campaign against Covid-19 which will have allowed to relax the activity restriction measures. In reality, American employers have been particularly struggling to recruit in low-skilled and low-paid sectors.
This turnaround is all the more surprising as the last week of April even saw jobless claims drop back below the 500,000 mark, for the first time since March 2020. However, this remains twice as high as the level of ‘before the pandemic.
One of the explanations, put forward by the Republican opposition, is that potential candidates are not encouraged to return to work while on generous unemployment benefits, thanks to the aid plan of the Democratic American president. One of the difficulties is also the fact that some schools remain closed in the United States, at least partially.
Unemployment is picking up slightly …
In April, the unemployment rate even rose slightly, after declining since May, the Labor Department announced on Friday.
The job gains created in recreation, hotels and services, in particular, were wiped out by losses recorded in temporary help and business-to-business mail delivery services, the ministry said.
The unemployment rate stood at 6.1%, down from 6% in March, when analysts saw it decline to 5.8%.
Another bad news, the March data were revised down sharply, and ultimately 770,000 jobs were created and not 916,000 as initially announced. In contrast, February was a little better than initially announced, with 536,000 jobs created instead of 468,000.
… despite a successful vaccination campaign
The economic recovery is supported in the United States by the rapid pace of vaccinations and by government aid, which has increased the purchasing power of Americans. Indeed, in the United States, nearly a third of the population is fully vaccinated against 10% of Europeans, according to data from Our World in Data.
A level still far below the pre-crisis level
In total, just over 16 million people were still receiving assistance for loss of employment or income in mid-April, according to data released Thursday.
More than 22 million jobs were destroyed in March and April, under the effect of the first containment measures. Job creation then exceeded one million from May to August, before slowing down with the resurgence of the virus from the fall.
The Covid-19 had lowered the unemployment rate, in two months, from its lowest level in 50 years (3.5% in February) to a highest since the Great Depression of the 1930s (14.8% in April ).
According to the latest forecasts from the US Central Bank (Fed), published in March, the unemployment rate at the end of the year should fall to 4.5% by the end of the year.
(With AFP)
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