Still, with a reported six million unemployed Americans — compared with 5.7 million in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic — the Biden administration is still down 300,000 jobs more than 16 months after taking office and promising to “build back better.”
In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 1.4 million Americans were “long-term unemployed” as of May, 235,000 more than before the pandemic. An additional 5.7 million Americans — 700,000 more than before COVID — were not in the labor force but currently want a job, a significant number not counted in the unemployment rate.