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I suspect this differs by geography. Texas never really completely shut down for the pandemic. People where I live remain eager to work. The lower paid service

I suspect this differs by geography. Texas never really completely shut down for the pandemic. People where I live remain eager to work. The lower paid service jobs are mostly staffed by young people but people remain eager to work. My wife was just driving through Kentucky and West Virginia to visit some relatives. She is seeing a radically different world there. Job postings and labor shortages are everywhere and most of the people she is visiting are unemployed and don’t do anything.

freddie_mercury 5y ago
According to the BLS current population survey (CPS), the unemployment rate for Texas fell 0.2 percentage points in April 2021 to 6.7%. The state unemployment rate was 0.6 percentage points higher than the national rate for the month. According to the BLS current population survey (CPS), the unemployment rate for Kentucky fell 0.3 percentage points in April 2021 to 4.7%. The state unemployment rate was 1.4 percentage points lower than the national rate for the month. So much for your anecdote. Unemployment in Texas is way higher than in Kentucky.
- brandmeyer 5y ago
  The workforce participation rate is far lower for KY (56.6%) than TX (62.2%), though.
  - cmendel 5y ago
    That's because of the history of coal mining/factory jobs in KY. When The coal jobs dried up and the factories closed a fair portion of the people who were previously employed dropped out of the labor force and never went back. The other piece is this: Population of Texas in 2020: 29,360,759 Population of Kentucky in 2020: 4,477,251
a3n 5y ago
Anecdata: Driving through Florence SC a couple weeks ago, a McDonalds was advertising $500 hiring bonus. A few days later in either Arkansas or Missouri I was inside a McDonalds offering $200 signing bonus, $100 after 30 days, $100 after another 30 days. Yesterday I was at the Walmart distribution center in Houston (I'm a truck driver) and they had a banner stretched across a street-visible building for starting warehouse wages of $17.50/hour. No idea whether any of those jobs get you more than 29 hours/week. Help wanted signs are everywhere. Metal working. "Labor." Truck stop cashiers. There are signs as well as audio in the truck stops, and they brag about "flexible scheduling." Maybe that means you can schedule around school, or maybe that means "it's slow today, go home." The big three truck stop chains (TA/Petro, Pilot/FlyingJ, Loves/Speedco) used to always be clean and serviced. Recently that's become spotty, all over the country.

freddie_mercury 5y ago

According to the BLS current population survey (CPS), the unemployment rate for Texas fell 0.2 percentage points in April 2021 to 6.7%. The state unemployment rate was 0.6 percentage points higher than the national rate for the month. According to the BLS current population survey (CPS), the unemployment rate for Kentucky fell 0.3 percentage points in April 2021 to 4.7%. The state unemployment rate was 1.4 percentage points lower than the national rate for the month. So much for your anecdote. Unemployment in Texas is way higher than in Kentucky.

brandmeyer 5y ago
The workforce participation rate is far lower for KY (56.6%) than TX (62.2%), though.
- cmendel 5y ago
  That's because of the history of coal mining/factory jobs in KY. When The coal jobs dried up and the factories closed a fair portion of the people who were previously employed dropped out of the labor force and never went back. The other piece is this: Population of Texas in 2020: 29,360,759 Population of Kentucky in 2020: 4,477,251

a3n 5y ago

Anecdata: Driving through Florence SC a couple weeks ago, a McDonalds was advertising $500 hiring bonus. A few days later in either Arkansas or Missouri I was inside a McDonalds offering $200 signing bonus, $100 after 30 days, $100 after another 30 days. Yesterday I was at the Walmart distribution center in Houston (I'm a truck driver) and they had a banner stretched across a street-visible building for starting warehouse wages of $17.50/hour. No idea whether any of those jobs get you more than 29 hours/week. Help wanted signs are everywhere. Metal working. "Labor." Truck stop cashiers. There are signs as well as audio in the truck stops, and they brag about "flexible scheduling." Maybe that means you can schedule around school, or maybe that means "it's slow today, go home." The big three truck stop chains (TA/Petro, Pilot/FlyingJ, Loves/Speedco) used to always be clean and serviced. Recently that's become spotty, all over the country.