Record numbers of Americans are quitting their jobs as employers find themselves desperately understaffed, and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is chalking up the new workforce dynamics to President Joe Biden's pandemic aid programs and a lingering fear of the coronavirus.
'Americans feel confident about the job market. Quits have increased up to record numbers, which is a sign that people are getting outside offers,' Yellen said in an interview with CBS's Face The Nation on Sunday.
It's after the Labor Department released its latest statistics on Friday showing that a record 4.4 million people left their jobs in September alone.
There were more job openings in September than the 7.7 million unemployed, illustrating the difficulties so many companies have had finding workers.
Yellen admitted that the expected urgency in returning to work after the pandemic wiped out so many jobs was undercut by Biden's American Rescue Plan and the CARES Act signed by former President Donald Trump.
She said they left Americans feeling 'good about their finances' - despite otherwise widespread economic damage.
Biden and Congressional Democrats have made attempts to extend some of these programs, but faced opposition from Republicans and even moderates within their own party. Critics claimed extending the programs would de-incentivize people returning to work.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells @margbrennan in an exclusive interview that labor force participation is "quite depressed" compared to pre-pandemic levels, something she says is due concerns over COVID exposure, particularly in "public facing" fields like childcare. pic.twitter.com/I8pcIAnXsi
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 12, 2021
In a CBS interview airing Sunday, Treasury Secretary Yellen blamed both the labor shortage and soaring inflation on the lingering coronavirus pandemic
Yellen also pointed out that a majority of jobs that were vacated in September were front-facing support jobs.
'I think part of it reflects concerns about COVID and exposure to COVID, especially in jobs that involve public facing activities,' Yellen told host Margaret Brennan.
But the latest jobs report released last week indicates that the US is at least in part moving away from pandemic-forced job losses.
She said people were leaving their jobs in droves in part because of Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan leaving them in a better financial position than they would have been in a different
