The US Labor Market during the Beginning of the Pandemic Recession

B-Tier
Journal: Brookings Papers on Economic Activity
Year: 2020
Issue: 2 (Summer)
Pages: 3-33

Authors (8)

Tomaz Cajner (Federal Reserve Board (Board o...) Leland D. Crane (not in RePEc) Ryan A. Decker (not in RePEc) John Grigsby (not in RePEc) Adrian Hamins-Puertolas (not in RePEc) Erik Hurst (University of Chicago) Christopher Kurz (not in RePEc) Ahu Yildirmaz (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.251 = (α=2.01 / 8 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Using weekly administrative payroll data from the largest US payroll processing company, we measure the evolution of the US labor market during the first four months of the global COVID-19 pandemic. After aggregate employment fell by 21 percent through late April, employment rebounded somewhat through late June. The reopening of temporarily shuttered businesses contributed significantly to the employment rebound, particularly for smaller businesses. We show that worker recall has been an important component of recent employment gains for both reopening and continuing businesses. Employment losses have been concentrated disproportionately among lower wage workers; as of late June employment for workers in the lowest wage quintile was still 20 percent lower relative to mid-February levels. As a result, average base wages increased between February and June, though this increase arose entirely through a composition effect. Finally, we document that businesses have cut nominal wages for almost 7 million workers while forgoing regularly scheduled wage increases for many others.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bin:bpeajo:v:51:y:2020:i:2020-02:p:3-33
Journal Field
General
Author Count
8
Added to Database
2026-01-25