Guest-worker programs would ease pressure on the border, leading to better enforcement.
Metro New York is home to more than 20 million people. Yet the Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning on Monday that anyone flying out of the area’s three major airports could experience hours-long delays due to staffing shortages. Why won’t Americans get back to work?
Part of the problem is the trillions of dollars that Congress spent on pandemic relief, which provided incentives not to work. Eviction bans and student-loan pauses gave the able-bodied an excuse to stay home. Still, labor-force participation typically rebounds after an economic downturn as jobs become more plentiful. The question is what’s taking so long.
It’s a dilemma that is exacerbating inflation and has economists scratching their heads. In February 2020, just before the Covid shutdowns, the labor-force participation rate was 63.4%. Today, it’s decreased to 62.1%. The gap might seem small, but it translates to 3.4 million workers, and it has persisted despite the sharpest rise in nominal wages in more than two decades. Employers are offering signing bonuses and higher pay, yet job openings continue to exceed the number of people looking for work.
Continue reading the entire piece here at The Wall Street Journal (paywall)
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Jason L. Riley is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, and a Fox News commentator. He is the author of the recent book “The Black Boom.”
This piece originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal