The U.S. employment market has not yet fully regained all the jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic downturn, but recovery is continuing. As of August, the U.S. is still about 4.1 million jobs shy of the pre-pandemic employment base, or just 4% away from February 2020 norms. The employment base is now the closest it has been to previous levels and, as COVID-19 case counts ease, the national workforce continues to regain lost jobs. In the past eight months alone, roughly 6 million jobs have been recouped. In the worst month of the pandemic, more than 20 million jobs were lost in April 2020. Some individual markets are already back in the black. Among the largest 50 apartment markets, only Salt Lake City is enjoying a job base well ahead of pre-pandemic norms, with 28,800 more jobs than the market had in February 2020. A handful of other major markets – Austin, Dallas and Kansas City – are at break-even points, with employment counts that are about in line with pre-pandemic levels. Some smaller markets have also recovered well. The job bases in Salisbury, MD and Provo, UT are now 13,000 to 15,000 jobs above pre-pandemic norms.
