Why aren’t workers returning? It’s the pandemic economy
CLEVELAND — Across the country it’s estimated there is more than one job open for every American who wants to work, yet still there are millions of people who have yet to return to the workforce.
Why? It’s a question not easily answered, though the White House, Congress and economists are struggling to try.
In January of 2020, the U.S. economy was on a roll. Unemployment was low, wages were rising and inflation in check. That’s when things went south as the pandemic began its impact in February and march. The nation’s economic leaders immediately looked to assure Americans.
“Let me just comment — this isn’t like the financial crisis,” said former U.S Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on March 13, 2020, referring to the financial crisis of 2008, the banking collapse that led to the great recession of 2009, when unemployment soared and people waited in lines for a shot at any job.
Like in Canton in March of 2009, when…
