Data from Harvard University, Brown University, and the Gates Foundation show dramatically different job market recovery for “high wage,” “middle-wage,” and “low wage” workers.
Between January 2020 and March 2021, Americans earning above $60,000 observed a 2.4% overall increase in employment. Meanwhile, workers earning below $60,000 and workers earning below $27,000 saw 4.5% and 23.6% decreases, respectively.
While Americans in the “Professional & Business Services” sector saw a 0.5% decrease in employment, the “Retail & Transportation,” “Education & Health Services,” and “Leisure & Hospitality” witnessed dips of 3.5%, 6.4%, and 20.7%.
Indeed, job market recovery significantly differed on a state-by-state basis. While Florida, South Carolina, and Arizona saw 16.1%, 15.3%, and 13.3% employment rate increases, California, New York, and Hawaii saw 6.8%, 5.1%, and 1.7% increases.
With a 9.8% decrease in employment, Washington, D.C., trailed the rest of the nation in labor market prosperity.
Moody’s Analytics and CNN Business recently produced a “Back-to-Normal Index” revealing that Florida, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Idaho, and other states that quickly rescinded lockdown orders have returned to — or exceeded — pre-recession economic output. Meanwhile, New York — which aggressively enforced its lockdown orders — trails the rest of the nation at 79% of pre-recession capacity.