The COVID-19 pandemic led to a crushing recession that threw millions of workers into joblessness. Unemployment rose higher in three months of COVID-19 than it did in two years of the Great Recession. However, driven by historic public investments, the economy has rebounded faster and more equitably than many anticipated. The U.S. labor market recovered all the jobs lost during the pandemic recession, in just over two years – a feat that took more than six years to reach following the Great Recession. Additionally, workers’ real wages have begun to grow after a bout of high inflation, and Black workers have seen the lowest unemployment rate on record.

• Speakers:
  • Heather Boushey, Council of Economic Advisers Member and Chief Economist to the Investing in America Cabinet, Executive Office of the President,
  • Emily Stewart, Senior Correspondent, Vox
  • JW Mason, Associate Professor of Economics/Senior Fellow, Roosevelt Institute
  • Rakeen Mabud, Chief Economist and Managing Director of Policy and Research, Groundwork Collaborative
  • Indivar Dutta-Gupta, President and Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Policy
  • Angela Hanks, Chief of Programs, Demos

Watch the full recording below: