How COVID-19 is affecting hourly work

Highlights

Overall jobs are up 84% compared to pre-pandemic norms, with a 15% month over month decline and 76% year over year growth. Google searches for hourly jobs are down 4% year over year. 

Last Friday, the Labor Department released the September jobs report. While the data revealed another disappointing month for employment and job additions, the real question on everyone’s mind is what happened to the workers? There are 5 million fewer Americans employed than pre-pandemic, and 3 million of them have left the workforce.

However, the data released on Friday was collected in mid-September, when the Delta wave was near its peak. Since then, cases and hospitalizations have fallen in much of the country, and more timely data suggests that the economy has begun to rebound. If these trends continue, workers on the sidelines may return to the labor force soon, and hiring should pick up.

Here are the fast facts from the September jobs report:

• Employers added 194,000 jobs in September—fewer than projected and a disappointing month for economy watchers.

• Leisure and hospitality led the job creation, adding 74,000 positions as the unemployment rate for the sector sharply decreased to 7.7% from 9.1%. Retail increased by 56,000. Additional job gains were spread across a variety of other sectors.

• The unemployment rate fell to 4.8% from 5.2% because 183,000 Americans dropped out of the workforce.

• Labor force participation fell 0.1% to 61.6% and hasn’t moved much since September of 2020 (61.4%) even though the economy has grown rapidly in the last year.

The upcoming holiday season is here, adding to the hiring urgency and worker retention concerns for many. Our Holiday Hiring 2021: A Quick Start Guide is a good resource for hourly employers and workers looking to prepare for the upcoming season. We surveyed thousands of hourly workers and employers and analyzed labor market trends to create this guide—everything you need and want to know.

Jobs

All industry data is from 3/2/20-10/11/21

Here are the latest job numbers by industry:

Quick service restaurant (QSR) jobs are down 25% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 6% month over month decline and 5% year over year growth.

Sit-down restaurant jobs are down 37% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 2% month over month decline and 10% year over year growth.

Warehouse and logistics jobs are up 382% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 38% month over month growth and 46% year over year growth.

Retail jobs are up 47% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 11% month over month growth and 68% year over year growth.

Grocery jobs are up 70% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 22% month over month decline and 13% year over year growth.

Hospitality jobs are up 294% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 21% month over month decline and 329% year over year growth.

On demand jobs are up 178% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 44% month over month decline and 131% year over year growth.

Convenience store jobs are down 13% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 8% month over month decline and 3% year over year growth.

Healthcare jobs are up 120% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 9% month over month decline and 106% year over year growth.

Workers

Google searches for hourly jobs are down 4% year over year.

The bottom line

We’ll continue to be your best resource for hourly job market insights as we collectively navigate towards our new normal and beyond.