In April 2020 the US economy saw more than 20 million people lose their jobs or exit the workforce. The word "unprecedented" certainly had its day in the sun, with some of the most memorable — if worrying — charts in recent memory, including this front page visual from the NYTimes.
The US economy, however, has slowly but surely clawed its way back.
Elevator down, stairs up
Over the last 27 months the US economy has seen the number of people in active employment grow by an average of 800,000 a month — taking total employment in the country back to almost exactly where we were in February 2020.Of course, employment is only one small piece of the economic puzzle.
People have returned to the workforce, but with inflation running at almost double-digits (%), wages aren't keeping up and people are concerned. Indeed, a recent survey from YouGov found that inflation is now the number one political or social issue for 24% of those surveyed. That's more than double the number who cited Health Care (10%), Climate Change (9%), Civil Rights (7%) or Abortion (6%) as their most important issue.
