Not long ago everyone was writing about the hiring frenzy going on based on the strong BLS March report of 916,000 new jobs added (777,000 adjusted). However, the April jobs report was less than stellar at 266,000 new jobs added when close to a million jobs were projected. In May, we were back on a positive track with 559,000 new jobs added. While it appears most people feel that April was just a blip in the road to economic recovery, following are 6 possible causes for the weak April jobs report.¹

1. Unemployment Insurance. The most persistent explanation for workers staying out of the workforce is that people are making as much if not more collecting Unemployment Insurance than they would if they returned to work. Additionally, with the financial safety net, workers may be more selective about the jobs they want to take or return to.²
2. Pandemic vs. Post Pandemic Jobs.
   While one might think hiring would stall in the hospitality sector where employees are working longer hours with a minimal .7% increase in pay, the hospitality and leisure industry  saw the biggest hiring gains by adding 331,000 workers. It’s delivery and grocery stores as well as manufacturing and retail, to a lesser extent, where jobs are going unfilled. Understandably, as people return to their pre-COVID patterns, the demand for grocery workers and delivery would logically fall. For brick and mortar retail, COVID may have sped up the inevitable shift to online shopping that may never completely recover. Manufacturing continues to suffer from a technical skills gap.³ 
3. Schools and Childcare. Schools and childcare aren’t reopening as quickly or as uniformly as the overall economy which could account for workers, and women in particular, taking longer to return to the labor market. ²
4. Industry Bottlenecks.  Even though demand for manufactured goods remains high, the sector shed 18,000 jobs in April. The shortage of semi-conductors has seriously slowed or halted production of cars and other products. Booms in construction and housing are being met by lumber and steel shortages and their corresponding jobs.
5. BLS Seasonal Adjustments Formula. In this unprecedented time of COVID, the Labor Department’s seasonal adjustments for holidays and weather may not be appropriate. Reviewing raw data, the number of Americans looking for work actually increased by 430,000 in April.
6. Recovery Takes Time. Finally, it may be as simple as realizing recovery can’t turn on a dime. It may just take more time.

^{1 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/07/aprils-big-jobs-miss-explained-and-what-it-means-for-the-us-economic-outlook.html
2 https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/jobs-report-explained-ui-childcare-seasonal-adjustment.html
3 https://www.industryweek.com/talent/education-training/article/21120838/manufacturers-willing-to-spend-to-shut-the-skills-gap}