With the economy back on the rise, but the coronavirus still looming over the globe, times are definitely uncertain. Millions of jobs have become available, the U.S. has accrued more debt than ever before and households and companies are still recovering from the shock of the pandemic. Below are four things you, as a business owner, should know heading into the second half of the year. Keep reading and be sure to keep On Demand Staffing professionals in mind for all of your hiring needs.
The unemployment rate in the United States more than doubled in one year.
In 2019, the unemployment rate was at the lowest point since 2000 at just around 6 million people. During the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment rates jumped to nearly 13 million people. Today, the pandemic still looms over the world as number of cases are still high and variants are threatening the health of all those unvaccinated. Extra unemployment benefits ran out at the end of July, leading several businesses to put up “Now Hiring” signs and incorporate additional benefits for new hires to entice people to get back into the workforce. The new year began with an unemployment rate of 6.3% and was recorded at 5.4% for July 2021. 
The current national debit is larger than the size of the U.S. economy.
At a whopping $21 trillion, the U.S. debt is at an astronomical level. According to NPR, “The deficit for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 [2020] was more than triple that of fiscal 2019 and easily eclipsed the previous record of $1.4 trillion recorded in 2009.” A lot of additional debt was accrued while providing trillions of dollars of economic relief to families, individuals and businesses across the country. The spending that came with economic relief efforts aided public health and helped businesses, especially small businesses, from failing.
There are currently more job openings than there are people looking for work
A Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey reported 10.1 million job openings in June 2021. Delivery, e-commerce and warehouse jobs spiked during the pandemic (Hello, Amazon!) and are still growing today.Online shopping is still booming and extremely popular across the U.S. According to CBS, “The number of warehouse jobs listed on Indeed as of early April was 57% above what they were before the virus struck.” Other industries such as manufacturing and construction are also presenting multiple job opportunities. So why are people not returning to work? Experts say calling people “lazy” may not be the case. Instead, people need time to adjust to the new economy after a year of quarantine and to find the right job for their skill set or interests.
Women are having a harder time returning to work in today’s economy
With high childcare costs, families are having a tough time choosing to go back to work. 
Although times have certainly changed with women in the workforce, they still have a harder time with flexibility in their job positions, which makes it harder to leave children for hours at a time. In fact, women actually suffered the most during job layoffs at the beginning of the pandemic as they were more likely to get laid off than men.