As a result, the economy would take a long time to get back to where it was at the end of 2019, before the pandemic. Data released since July suggest the bounce-back has been a little stronger than we had anticipated. By August, almost 2 million jobs had been recouped—that’s roughly two-thirds of job losses through March and April. This is very encouraging.
But the pandemic put us in a very deep hole, and we still have a long climb ahead. For some sectors, the hole was deeper, and the climb back will take longer. Fields where remote work is possible have generally not experienced widespread job losses. And essential workers—hospital staff, first responders and grocery store employees—had to keep working despite the pandemic.