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Millions of US Workers Are Still Missing After The Pandemic. Where Did They Go?

  • Economists can’t agree where America’s missing workers went
  • Even the size of the US labor shortage is now in question
A warehouse in Newell, West Virginia.

A warehouse in Newell, West Virginia.

Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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Millions of workers are still missing from the US labor force three years after Covid-19 surfaced, and economists are scratching their heads as to how big the gap actually is and where all these people went.

One estimate found at least 2.1 million who retired earlier then expected. Another calculated a shortfall of 2 million immigrants at the height of the pandemic. Other research pointed to a million or more out of work because of long Covid.