Employers are particularly struggling to recruit in low-skilled and poorly paid sectors.
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Joe Biden made employment a priority, but the figures for April were disappointing: the US economy created only 266,000 jobs, far from the expected million, with employers in particular struggling to recruit in low-income sectors. skilled and poorly paid.
One of the explanations put forward by American Republicans is that potential candidates are not encouraged to return to work despite receiving generous unemployment benefits thanks to the American President’s aid plan.
One of the difficulties is also the fact that some schools remain closed in the United States, at least partially.
In April, the unemployment rate even rose slightly, after declining since May, the Labor Department announced on Friday.
A consensus of analysts counted on a million creations, and even much more for the most optimistic of them, thanks to the economic recovery now underway in the United States thanks to the accelerated vaccination campaign against Covid-19 which has allowed to relax the measures restricting economic activity.
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.
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.
This favorable context had enabled economists to anticipate a large number of job creations.
Especially since 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 before the pandemic.
A little more than 16 million people still received, in mid-April, assistance for loss of employment or income, 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.
But several million jobs are still lacking.
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.
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