Millions of women who lost their jobs in the pandemic have yet to return to work, even though the economy has improved. What's keeping them back is a mix of factors that may not be resolved quickly.
U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs last month, as the unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1% in April. Employers say they could use even more workers as demand surges and pandemic fears recede.
Millions of women have left the workforce during the pandemic as schools stopped in-person learning. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh says the recovery hinges on women returning to work.
The U.S. economy grew at a rapid pace in the first three months of the year as more people got vaccinated and the federal government pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into people's pockets.
The Paycheck Protection Program, which provided emergency loans to small businesses amid the pandemic, will wind down soon. Economists are divided on whether it saved enough jobs to justify its cost.
Although the overall jobs market is starting to come back, youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, creating a lot of anxiety among the latest class of college and high school seniors.
Millions who lost jobs at the beginning of the pandemic are still out of the labor force, making up levels of the unemployed not seen since the Great Recession.
The U.S. economy is likely to have slowed in the last three months of the year, ending 2020 smaller than it began. But for some companies, business is now back to pre-pandemic levels.
