Tonight, America’s economy has recovered from the pandemic. The labor market has regained the tens of millions of jobs lost when Covid first hit US shores. A stunningly strong jobs report shows a hiring surge in July. Employers added five hundred and twenty thousand jobs last month, the biggest game since February. The unemployment rate down to three and half percent after the lowest rate after fifty years. The gain were across many sectors including leisure and hospitality businesses and professional services, government and construction. But there are still flashing warning signs ahead as inflation remains high.

That 3.5% unemployment number come with a caveat because the overall labor pool is getting smaller. Sixty-three thousand people left workforce last month alone. And while low unemployment is usually a good thing, the recovery remains uneven. A summer surprise, the labor market bouncing back taking two and half years undo what Covid did in a matter of weeks. The stunning July job numbers mean the economy has now recouped all twenty-two million jobs loss early in the pandemic. But the news is not all good. Small businesses like Ford’s Fish Shack and Loudon County, Virginia still cannot find enough workers. Even after raising wages, owner T is down at least twenty percent of his workforce. And his cost has jumped by a third. Customers are also cutting back. Wages grew by over five percent last month well behind the rate of inflation, meaning many workers are making more but living less. The food pantry at St. Thomas Church in Richmond is seeing triple the number of families in need. What the employment numbers won’t do is slowing down inflation and that may prompt the Federal Reserve to pursue another substantial rate hike as soon as next month.

:::tip pantry

• : a room (as in a hotel or hospital) for preparation of foods on order 食物贮藏室

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