Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 5/4/2021

How COVID-19 is affecting hourly work

Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 5/4/21

Highlights

Overall, we’re seeing jobs are up 56% compared to pre-pandemic norms, with a 6% month over month decline and 96% year over year growth.

In anticipation of the April jobs report, economists forecast that 977,500 jobs were added last month, outperforming March's gain of 916,000 and representing the most significant rise since August 2020. The unemployment rate also fell to 5.7% from 6.0%, the lowest we've seen since the pandemic began. 

The economy reopening has mostly impacted the restaurant and hospitality industries. But other industries like retail, personal services and travel will also see a significant lift as more people are vaccinated. 

In other positive news, the labor force participation rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 61.7%, as more individuals came off the sidelines and returned to work. But economists warn that we are not out of the woods and the job market remains tight. After March's strong jobs report, the labor force participation rate remained at its lowest level, excluding the pandemic, since 1976. Bank of America chief economist Michelle Meyer estimates that 4.6 million workers still remain out of the labor force. 

We know it's a challenge to get ahead in this market. This week, Snagajob CEO Mathieu Stevenson discussed trends in the hourly job market, 5 steps you can take to stand out and other industry insights to keep you informed and ahead of the curve. Take a look. 

Jobs

All industry data is from 3/2/20-5/3/21

Here are the latest job numbers by industry:

Quick service restaurant (QSR) jobs are down 30% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 2% month over month decline and a 6% year over year decline.

Sit-down restaurant jobs are down 28% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 3% month over month growth and 32% year over year growth.

Warehouse and logistics jobs are up 189% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 19% month over month decline and a 118% year over year decline.

Retail jobs are down 5% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 12% month over month growth and 44% year over year growth.

Grocery jobs are up 68% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 31% month over month growth and 41% year over year growth.

Hospitality jobs are up 183% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 31% month over month growth and 258% year over year growth.

On demand jobs are up 122% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 30% month over month decline and 189% year over year growth.

Convenience store jobs are down 31% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 3% month over month decline and a 2% year over year decline.

Healthcare jobs are up 86% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 20% month over month growth and 87% year over year growth.

Workers

Google searches for hourly jobs are up 24% 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.