from Statista.com
— this post authored by Felix Richter
One day before the Senate passed President Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Saturday, the latest jobs report showed encouraging signs of recovery, as the U.S. economy added 379,000 jobs in February, exceeding expectations.
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The leisure and hospitality sector led the job gains in February, adding 355,000 payrolls, with restaurants and drinking places accounting for the lion’s share of that total (+286,000). As several states eased restrictions and the vaccine rollout continued, many Americans dipped their toes back into normal life, enjoying a meal or a drink outside after months of withdrawal.
Despite the latest upward trend, the leisure and hospitality sector remains the most heavily affected by the pandemic-induced jobs crisis. According to the BLS’ latest Employment Situation Summary, the number of jobs in leisure and hospitality still trails pre-pandemic levels by 3.5 million.
As the following chart shows, the jobs recovery in general is going slower than many people had originally hoped. After a quick initial rebound, job gains slowed to a crawl in recent months, as a third wave of COVID-19 rolled over the country. 12 months into the pandemic, total nonfarm employment is still 9.5 million jobs short of February 2020 levels.
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