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As federal lawmakers debate an ambitious $1.9-trillion relief package and COVID-19 vaccinations numbers climb, it might be tempting to think the U.S. is returning to a kind of normal.
The jobs market has also marched back from double-digit unemployment rates in early spring 2020. Friday’s jobs report showed the economy adding 379,000 jobs in February, the biggest gain in four months. The jobless rate now stands at 6.2%.
During the pandemic, the share of unemployed Americans peaked in April when the unemployment rate was 14.7%, amounting to more than 23 million unemployed Americans, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The amount of services that businesses provided in January largely held steady. The production index registered a healthy 59.9% down less than 1 point from the prior month.
Now the unemployment rate hovers around 6.3%, amounting to 10.1 million unemployed Americans,
“ It means getting back to the point where they were already struggling ”
However, a new survey of 10,000 people shows how far away normalcy remains for those who have been pummeled by the pandemic.
Just over half of all non-retired adults (51%) said the coronavirus pandemic will make it harder to reach whatever longterm financial goals they may have: 7% of participants said they had to postpone retirement and 17% think they’ll have to put it off.
Recovery is relative, said Juliana Horowitz, Pew Research Center’s associate director of social trends research. “It means getting back to the point where they were already struggling.”
The latest Pew survey paints a picture that’s decidedly mixed, adding more numbers to the idea of a so-called “K-shaped recovery” where rich and poor households diverge.
“There’s a very clear divide based on income in terms of how people are experiencing this,” Horowitz said.
Clear divide based on income
Overall, 21% of participants said they emerged from 2020 in worst shape, while 30% said they in better shape. Nearly half (49%) said they were essentially the same as before.
More than half of the people who told the Pew Research Center they left 2020 in worse money shape say they won’t fully recover until 2023.
Just over half (26%) of the people who told Pew they were in worse shape now than before the pandemic say they’ll need between 3 and 5 years.
Some 6% estimate it will take them up to 10 years, and 12% say their money situation will never bounce back to the way it was in early 2020.
Others see a rebound coming, like analysts at Goldman Sachs GS, -2.25% who forecast a 6.6% growth in gross domestic product this year, 2.5 percentage points above consensus. Other economists believe a full recovery for the economy will take two years — and that’s the quickest timetable for a personal finance recovery.
Lower income participants were far more likely to reduce spending, use rainy day savings, incur debt and borrow from friends and family, the survey showed.
