Slower-Than-Projected Pace Could Jeopardize a 2022 Recovery

ThinkWhy, a Dallas-based SaaS company delivering next-generation AI-driven labor-market solutions, recently released its U.S. labor-market rankings after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the U.S. economy added 194,000 jobs in September. The gain is well below expectations and worse than August’s disappointing results.

Continued growth at this slower-than-projected pace is likely to jeopardize a 2022 recovery, pushing the timeline to 2023 for reaching pre-pandemic employment levels. Since the major surge in hiring began in June, the U.S. economy added 2.8 million jobs, yet employment remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Despite moderate job gains in the past three months, businesses are looking to hire and consumer spending remains strong, which should keep a high demand for talent. The COVID-19 Delta variant contributed to slower job gains in August and September, but a continuing trend of declining cases could benefit the labor market in the coming months.

“Disruptors will continue to make hiring difficult and leave millions of open jobs unfilled through December,” said Jay Denton, chief labor-market analyst at ThinkWhy, creator of LaborIQ talent-intelligence software. “Vaccine mandates, COVID impacts and business decisions regarding in-office or remote work will limit how quickly jobs will be recovered.”