The U.S. labor market: trends and challenges

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Abstract

The U.S. labor market quickly overcame the effects of the pandemic and 2020 recession. The unemployment rate has returned to its low pre-crisis levels, and the number of vacancies is almost twice the number of the unemployed. The key feature of the U.S. labor market is labor shortage in almost all industries and among all categories of workers. The shock of the pandemic recession accelerated some imminent processes, which led to long-term structural changes. This includes a decrease in labor force participation rate, mainly as a result of large-scale excess retirements, and an increase in telework. The favorable situation in the labor market enables the Fed to conduct tight monetary policy.

About the authors

Oksana V. Bogaevskaya

Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: bogaevsk@imemo.ru
Moscow, Russian Federation

References

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