Small business staffing, shifts worked at industries and job openings posted by companies continued a sluggish performance over the past week, evidence that the pandemic's core wound to the U.S. labor market continues to heal only slowly.
"Even as businesses have reopened and jobs have returned, layoffs are ongoing, reflecting interruptions to activity from virus containment that are likely resulting in permanent closures and job losses," wrote Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics."The risk of permanent damage to the labor market remains high."
Graphic: Oxford Economics Recovery Index https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ECONOMY/OXFORDINDEX/rlgpdlnyepo/chart.png One positive note: the lapse of federal unemployment benefits and other fiscal programs has not led to a feared collapse of spending yet, and a weekly New York Fed index of annual GDP growth under current conditions has been rising.