Job Growth

Economy & Inflation
Written By Alysha Rashid

1 million jobs were added in Q1 2023 as the U.S. reached a record 155.6 million jobs.

Total jobs by month, U.S.

Jan 2000 - Mar 2023

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Note: Seasonally adjusted. Data for Feb 2023 and Mar 2023 are preliminary.

The nation gained 1 million jobs in the first three months of 2023 to reach a new record of 155.6 million jobs. But employers continue to struggle to find workers, with nearly 10 million unfilled jobs reported in February 2023 – up from 7 million reported in February 2019.1 Overall labor force participation is just as high today as it was in 2019, with Black adults increasingly participating in the labor force while white men (of all ages) and older women are more likely to have dropped out of the labor force (Employment rates).

The larger problem is that too many working-age Americans are dying. In 2020-2021, approximately 800,000 working-age Americans died, in excess of expected, due to Covid and other causes (Excess deaths).2,3 Other factors have contributed to a smaller labor force including Long Covid, which sidelined approximately 500,000 American workers in 2022 (Long Covid).4 In addition, lack of child care kept a million parents of young children from looking for work in 2022.5 And the nation’s “opioid epidemic” has contributed to significant declines in labor force participation, particularly among men.6 (Drug overdose deaths).

Together, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act are predicted to create over 2 million new jobs each year for 10 years.7,8 Ensuring that Americans are healthy and have the child and elder care they need to be able to take advantage of these jobs will be essential for ensuring this wave of jobs doesn’t result in another surge of inflation. In addition, helping workers build the skills necessary to fill these jobs and to transition from old industries to new industries will require substantial retooling of current workforce development systems.9,10,11,12

  1. “Job Openings: Total Nonfarm”. FRED. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSJOL 

  2. “Inflation and the Labor Market”. Powell. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. November, 2022. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20221130a.htm

  3. “Who’s missing from the post-pandemic labor force?” Bauer, Edelberg, Estep, and Hershbein. Brookings. April, 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/2023/04/04/whos-missing-from-the-post-pandemic-labor-force/

  4. “THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ILLNESSES ON WORKERS”. Goda, Soltas. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30435/w30435.pdf

  5. “Measuring Household Experiences during the Coronavirus Pandemic”. U.S. Census Bureau. January, 2023. https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/household-pulse-survey.html 

  6. “The economic impact of the opioid epidemic”. Paris, Rowley, and Frank. Brookings. April, 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/usc-brookings-schaeffer-on-health-policy/2023/04/17/the-economic-impact-of-the-opioid-epidemic/ 

  7. “Job Creation Estimates Through Proposed Inflation Reduction Act”. Pollen, Lala, Chakraborty. University of Massachusetts Amherst Political Economy Research Institute. August, 2022. https://peri.umass.edu/publication/item/1633-job-creation-estimates-through-proposed-inflation-reduction-act

  8. “15 Million Infrastructure Jobs.  Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/infrastructure/

  9. “Inflation Reduction Act Benefits: Good Paying Jobs and Revitalized U.S. Manufacturing”. Spengeman. Forbes. September, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2022/09/28/inflation-reduction-act-benefits-good-paying-jobs-and-revitalized-us-manufacturing/?sh=7820165f6ff9

  10. “The Insightful Leader Live: What You Need to Know about the New Climate Bill. Kellogg Insight. October, 2022. https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/webinars/the-insightful-leader-live-new-climate-bill

  11. “Biden needs to create an infrastructure talent pipeline, not just more jobs”. Kane. Brookings. January, 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2021/01/29/biden-needs-to-create-an-infrastructure-talent-pipeline-not-just-more-jobs/

  12. “Telecommunications Workforce: Additional Workers Will Be Needed to Deploy Broadband, but Concerns Exist About Availability”. U.S. Government Accountability Office. December, 2022. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105626.pdf

Alysha Rashid
Previous

Worker Retention
Next

Climate Disasters