The nation gained 1.7 million jobs in the first six months of 2023 to reach a new record of 156.2 million jobs. Overall labor force participation has been increasing and is on par with pre-Covid rates.

In May alone, 4 million workers quit jobs. The overall quits rate has stabilized at an elevated 2.6%.

The Black employment rate fell to 58.9% in June after reaching a peak of 60.9% in March, but remains closer to the white employment rate than it was pre-Covid.

College tuition costs have more than tripled over the last 50 years, even after adjusting for inflation. In 1968, the average cost of tuition and fees for a 4-year institution was $5,041 (in today’s dollars).

The end of stimulus and child tax credits in 2021 combined with high inflation in 2022 added up such that by June 2023, more than 1 in 3 American households was having difficulty paying for usual household expenses, up from 28% in June 2021.

In February alone, 4 million workers quit jobs. Quits rates were highest in the leisure and hospitality (5.6% in February) and retail (3.6% in February) where wages are typically low.

The nation gained 1 million jobs in the first three months of 2023 to reach a new record of 155.6 million jobs. But employers continue to struggle to find workers, with nearly 10 million unfilled jobs reported in February 2023 – up from 7 million reported in February 2019.

Despite strong job growth, Americans remain pessimistic about the economy.[1] Many observers point to recent spikes in groceries and gasoline prices as the source of this pessimism. But tuition, health care, and rent costs have also risen steeply since 2005.

In the one month that student loan borrowers were able to apply for the one-time student loan debt relief program, 66% (25.4 million) of eligible borrowers applied for debt relief, and 64% of those applications (16.3 million) were approved.

The Black employment rate surged 3 percentage points in the past 8 months, and as of March 2023, the Black employment rate (60.9%) is half a point higher than the white employment rate (60.2%).

8 of the 10 states with the highest shares of residents with medical debt were Southern: West Virginia (24%), South Carolina (22%), North Carolina (20%), Louisiana (18%), Arkansas (18%), Tennessee (18%), Georgia (17%), and Kentucky (17%).

While jobs have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, the share of the population age 16+ with employment remains 1 percentage point below February 2020.

In 2021, working-age death rates from “external causes” were 33% higher in Southern states than elsewhere in the U.S. Researchers have found that paid sick leave reduces deaths from these “external causes.” The U.S. is the only wealthy country that does not mandate paid sick leave for workers.

Since 2000, the growth in corporate profits has greatly outstripped growth in employee compensation.1

Enabled by a strong economy and a tight labor market, more than 4 million workers quit jobs in November 2022 in pursuit of better jobs.

While almost 22 million jobs were lost when Covid hit, they have now, some two years later, been largely recouped. By the end of 2022, the nation had reached a new record of 153.7 million jobs (1.2 million more than the pre-pandemic February 2020 level) and had an unemployment rate of 3.5% (equal to the pre-pandemic February 2020 level).

As of February 2022, credit bureau data revealed that 17% of Southerners had medical debt, compared to 11% for non-Southerners. In some Southern counties, up to 44% of individuals had medical debt in collections.

Among people 16 years of age and older, the employment rate is down 0.9 points for the Black population, 1.3 points for the White population, and 1.5 points for the Hispanic population. It is up 0.8 points for the Asian population. The employment rate is down 1.1 points for men and 1.2 percentage points for women compared to the pre-pandemic February 2020 level.

Enabled by a strong job recovery, more than 4 million workers quit jobs in July 2022 in pursuit of new jobs with better wages and working conditions.

While almost 22 million jobs were lost when Covid hit, they have now, some two years later, been fully recouped. Helping workers build the skills necessary to fill these jobs, and to transition from old industries to new sustainable industries will require substantial retooling of current workforce development systems, ramping up paid apprenticeships, and a host of new approaches to rapidly onboard new workers.