More than half of Americans who lost their jobs in the pandemic and remain unemployed are not interested in returning to work, according to a new survey suggesting that the dire national labor shortage is likely to persist.
The poll published on Thursday by the US Chamber of Commerce found that 53 percent of Americans who became unemployed during the pandemic say they are not active or only somewhat active in looking for work.
Fifty-six percent say they can get by for more than six months before it becomes essential to return to full time work, with 11 percent saying it will be more than a year before it is necessary to return to work, and 15 percent saying it will never be essential.
No detail was given on whether this cohort was comprised of retirees, or how they'll manage to survive without a job.
The poll is a troubling signal amid a worker shortage that is exacerbating supply chain issues and spurring inflation, with businesses across the country struggling to fill millions of open positions.
As of September, the number of job openings nationwide remained near at record high at 10.4 million, and the red-hot job market has spurred those who are interested in working to quit their jobs for more lucrative positions at record rates.
More than half of Americans who lost their jobs in the pandemic and remain unemployed not interested in returning to work, according to a new poll
The poll published on Thursday by the US Chamber of Commerce found that 53 percent of Americans who became unemployed during the pandemic say they are not active or only somewhat active in looking for work
The millstone around the neck of the economy remains the millions of workers who either quit or were fired at the peak of the pandemic, and show few signs of interest in returning to the job market.
Most states have cut back on generous unemployment benefits designed to feed and house people while lockdowns were in place, with those payouts often worth more than what their recipients had been earning previously.
The labor force participation rate, which refers to the percentage of working-age civilian adults who are either working or looking for a job, plunged precipitously during the early stages of the pandemic, and has never returned to its pre-pandemic levels.
In February 2020, the labor force participation rate was 63.3 percent, and as of
