The Los Angeles Post

HOW LONG COVID IS AFFECTING THE NATIONWIDE LABOR SHORTAGE

by · Published · Updated

Persistent COVID-19 symptoms could be keeping millions of Americans out of the workforce.

 

Economists and policymakers have struggled to figure out why a much lower percentage of working-age adults are in the labor force than before the pandemic.

 

The number of Americans either employed or looking for work eclipsed its pre-pandemic level in August, according to Labor Department data released Friday. But the labor force participation rate remains 1 percentage point below its February 2020 level, a gap roughly equivalent to 1.6 million people.

  • “We don’t know what proportion of people are having very debilitating symptoms with a lot of certainty,” said Julia Raifman, an assistant professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health.
  • “But we know that it is happening to some people and we know that each infection seems to increase the chances of it happening,” she continued.

Roughly 16 million working-age Americans said they had long COVID in a June survey conducted by the Census Bureau, but it’s unclear how many of them are still too sick to work.