As the economy recovers from the pandemic, businesses across Iowa are struggling to fill job openings. But at the same time, there are still many people out of work. Well-meaning regulations are one of the factors playing a role in this mismatch, and policymakers should redesign them to minimize the costs of regulations and let people get back to work.
Across the country, businesses are finding it hard to hire workers, and the Hawkeye state is no exception. There are currently over 85,000 job openings in the state. Many of these positions have been open for months because of a lack of candidates. Consumer demand has rebounded from the depths of the COVID-19 recession, the issue now has become a shortage of workers willing to reenter the labor force.
At the same time, a significant number of Iowans are out of work. The unemployment rate is lower than the U.S. average, at 4.1 percent. However, this is higher than its pre-COVID-19 level, which fell to as low as 2.5 percent. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. The number of people working or actively looking for work still is much lower than before the pandemic.
Many are sitting on the sidelines. For some, there may be lingering concerns about COVID-19. But others are unable to find a job that meets their needs.
Continue reading at The Gazette.
Conor Norris is the assistant director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University. Follow his work @ConorNorrisKRCC.
Edward Timmons, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at St. Francis University, writes frequently on the history and rise of occupational licensing and it’s relation to economic mobility.
Economics of Flourishing
As the economy recovers from the pandemic, businesses across Iowa are struggling to fill job openings. But at the same time, there are still many people out of work. Well-meaning regulations are one of the factors playing a role in this mismatch, and policymakers should redesign them to minimize the costs of regulations and let people get back to work.
Across the country, businesses are finding it hard to hire workers, and the Hawkeye state is no exception. There are currently over 85,000 job openings in the state. Many of these positions have been open for months because of a lack of candidates. Consumer demand has rebounded from the depths of the COVID-19 recession, the issue now has become a shortage of workers willing to reenter the labor force.
At the same time, a significant number of Iowans are out of work. The unemployment rate is lower than the U.S. average, at 4.1 percent. However, this is higher than its pre-COVID-19 level, which fell to as low as 2.5 percent. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. The number of people working or actively looking for work still is much lower than before the pandemic.
Many are sitting on the sidelines. For some, there may be lingering concerns about COVID-19. But others are unable to find a job that meets their needs.
Continue reading at The Gazette.
Conor Norris
Conor Norris is the assistant director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University. Follow his work @ConorNorrisKRCC.
Edward Timmons
Edward Timmons, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at St. Francis University, writes frequently on the history and rise of occupational licensing and it’s relation to economic mobility.
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