The Department of Labor reported that 5.9 million Americans were unemployed, 200,000 more than before the pandemic. 1.5 million of out of work Americans were considered “long-term” unemployed — 362,000 more than before COVID hit the United States. Meanwhile the labor force participation rate in April was 62.2 percent, a 0.2 percent decrease from March and 1.2 percent lower than February 2020. The number of Americans not in the labor force who want a job numbered 5.9 million in April, 900,000 more than before the pandemic.
“This participation rate stinks, it’s going in the wrong direction,” said Brian Brenberg, executive vice president of The King’s College in New York. He noted that while there are still more than 11 million open jobs in the country, companies still “cannot get people off the sidelines.”