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Workers struggling to find jobs despite reported 'labor shortage'

Many businesses, scrambling to keep up with demand, complain they can't find workers to fill their job openings — a near-record 10.4 million in August.

INDIANAPOLIS — There is a labor shortage in America despite U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers showing millions of Americans trying to find full-time jobs. This comes even as numerous businesses — especially in the restaurant and services industries — say they are unable to find workers to hire. And the offers for flexible hours and pay increases haven't helped.

Theories behind the disconnect attribute it to everything from government benefits for the unemployed being too good, to career changes, wanting higher pay, and concerns about getting sick.

The job market has been rebounding for the past year and a half. In March and April of 2020, employers slashed more than 22 million jobs as governments ordered lockdowns and consumers and workers stayed home as a health precaution. Since then, employers have added more than 18 million jobs — including 531,000 last month — as the rollout of vaccines and government relief programs gave consumers the confidence and financial wherewithal to resume spending.

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Many businesses, scrambling to keep up with demand, complain they can't find workers to fill their job openings — a near-record 10.4 million in August.

But there are Americans actively looking for jobs — millions of them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics survey for October shows 4.4 million people who are employed part time, but would prefer full-time positions. In many cases, the workers have had their hours reduced and they are unable to find full-time jobs.

The number of unemployed workers was 6 million in October, according to the statistics. That is nearly 1 million more people than Feb. 2020. They were not counted as unemployed because they were actively looking for work the month leading up to the survey or were unavailable to take a job.

Around 1.7 million people wanted and were available for work in October, had looked for a job in the previous 12 moths, but had not looked for work in the month leading up to the Bureau of Labor's survey. Nearly a third of the workers had stopped looking for work, believing no jobs were available for them.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a new pandemic low 267,000 last week, another sign that the job market is recovering from last year's sharp coronavirus downturn.

Jobless claims fell by 4,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly ups and downs, dropped by nearly 7,300 to 278,000, also a pandemic low.

Altogether, 2.2 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment benefits the week that ended Oct. 30.

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Applications for unemployment aid have been falling mostly steadily since topping 900,000 in early January and are gradually nearing prepandemic levels of around 220,000 a week.

 

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