Michael R. Strain, Columnist

Give Thanks, Americans. You're Back to Work.

Pessimists thought that prime-age employment would never recover from the Great Recession. This year, it did.

November 26, 2019 at 12:00 PM UTC

Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It).”

Where’s the turkey?
Photographer: Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

If you find your Thanksgiving table descending into a fight about whether President Donald Trump’s Ukraine scandal rises to an impeachable offense, put down the mashed potatoes, tap your wine glass, gather your family’s attention, and tell them that this holiday is reserved for gratitude. If they doubt that American public life offers anything to be thankful for, ask them to consider this: The American people are finally back to work.

This year, the rate of employment for people between the ages of 25 and 54 — those who are mostly too old to be in school and too young to be retired — has finally recovered from the Great Recession.