7% Growth Looks a Lot Harder After the Jobs Report
The U.S. recovery seemed to be roaring ahead until the April jobs report; now all those optimistic forecasts need to be reassessed.
Demand isn’t the problem.
Photographer: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
There's been a lot of optimism in the past few months that the U.S. economy would bounce back from the pandemic with a 7% growth spurt this year, boosted by the rollout of vaccines, fiscal stimulus and pent-up demand. It's one of the reasons why the S&P 500 closed Friday at an all-time high.
But just as most of the country was speeding into reopening, April's disappointing jobs report cast doubt over whether we'll be able to achieve those lofty growth forecasts. If the millions of workers who lost or left their jobs in 2020 don't rejoin the workforce this year, those 7% growth expectations will prove to be far too high.