The Labor Department noted that during the pandemic, millions of workers were wrongly classified as “employed but not on the job,” when they should have been counted as “unemployed on temporary layoff.” If it weren’t for those misclassifications, the unemployment rate would have been higher: around 19.2% in April and 16.1% in May, not including seasonal adjustments.
From retail to restaurants across the United States, people are going back to their old jobs or finding new ones. These are the occupations that reported the most earnings:
Restaurant and bar workers.
Restaurants and bars added nearly 1.4 million jobs in May when they reopened across the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While states classified restaurants and bars as essential businesses that could operate only on the go and deliver, many still closed during requests to stay home. It was difficult or economically unfeasible for some companies to adopt this model, or they had other public health problems.
Construction workers
Another industry that posted profits was the construction sector, where the number of jobs increased by 464,000 in May, recovering almost half of what they lost in April. Construction activity is part of the first phase of reopening and many projects are resuming work.
Retail workers
In retail, 367,800 jobs returned, and clothing stores saw the biggest gains. Gap announced in May that it would reopen 800 stores, including Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said this week that the company hired more than 300,000 associates in the US As of March, most of them temporary workers, to help “ease some of the burden they face.” current store workers and give those who lost their jobs more opportunities.
Factory workers
Factory jobs have also returned, as they fit into phase one of the reopening. The manufacturing industry added 225,000 jobs.
That’s good news for an industry that saw its biggest drop in production in March since 1946. Auto, plane, and other factories stopped working to keep workers safe from the pandemic.
Dentists
While hospitals and other essential medical services remained open, dentists closed their offices, serving only patients who needed urgent care.
Health care hires increased significantly in May, driven by the reopening of the reopening of dental offices, which added 244,800 jobs.
“This news is certainly encouraging for the economy and the dental industry, but it is also important because patients confidently return to their doctor and understand the link between good oral health and general body health,” said Pat Bauer, president and CEO of Heartland Dental, which supports more than 1,000 dental offices in the United States. The company estimates that those dental offices have added nearly 6,000 jobs, all of them employees who have returned from leave.
Delivery and laundry
Meanwhile, personal and laundry services added 182,300 jobs. That category includes all food delivery workers who are classified as employees, but doesn’t count contractors like Postmates and Uber Eats part-time or some Amazon drivers. Laundry is considered an essential business and some that were closed as a precaution have now reopened.
Goalkeepers
As companies disinfect their facilities to prevent the spread of the virus, cleaning services are more important than ever. Building and home services added 68,400 jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(The-CNN-Wire and 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner company. All rights reserved.)
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