The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt across the globe, even as the population continues to pursue the biggest vaccine campaign in history. This blog post will examine initial economic impacts felt by the United States on its labor market and will compare some of these statistics to that of other countries.
By mid-March of 2020, former President Donald Trump had declared the pandemic to be a national emergency. By April, the first full month of the pandemic in the United States, the employment-to-population ratio had declined significantly. Comparing what was expected for the period based on historical trends, the additional national decline was 9.9 per 100 individuals that month (Udalova, 2021). The overall unemployment rate in April was 14.7 percent, an increase of 10.3 percent from that of March (Holzer, 2020).
Looking at other member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), we see that while most did experience an increase from March to April as well, the second highest percentage increase was Canada, at only 5.2 percent (Holzer, 2020). Meanwhile, the global rate of unemployment for 2020 amounted to about 6.5 percent (O’Neill, 2021).
Despite this seemingly immense impact on our labor market in comparison to others, the United States’s economy is resilient. We have survived the Great Depression, two World Wars, and a number of recessions. Based on our history, it is not hard to believe that our economy will outlast and conquer the COVID-19 pandemic in the long run as well.
References
Holzer, H. J. (2020, June 2). The COVID-19 crisis: How do U.S. employment and health outcomes compare to other OECD countries? Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-covid-19-crisis-how-do-u-s-economic-and-health-outcomes-compare-to-other-oecd-countries/.
O'Neill, A. (2021, August 3). Global unemployment rate from 2010 to 2020. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/279777/global-unemployment-rate/.
Udalova, V. (2021, March 8). Initial impact of covid-19 on U.S. economy more widespread than on mortality. The United States Census Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/03/initial-impact-covid-19-on-united-states-economy-more-widespread-than-on-mortality.html.
Hi Elena!
I found your point that changes in unemployment rates after COVID differed between countries to be quite fascinating. Out of curiosity to learn more, I pulled up the Brookings report you cited and find it really interesting that of the OECD countries listed, only a few countries (the United States, Canada, and Austria) seemed to have experienced a major jump in unemployment after pandemic shutdowns. This finding, while quite fascinating, is still very fresh, and in the years to come, as nations have the time to fill in missing data and evaluate, it will be fascinating to see if any specific correlations or causal relationships arise between economic structure/country differences and higher unemployment rates, as this could offer insight into how countries' labor markets could be bolstered and stabilized so they would be less affected by such sudden catastrophes.
Great work, Elena, I enjoyed reading your post! :)
Blessings,
Gabby Oldham