Labor shortage......again!

We know that you're probably tired of reading about the labor shortages as much we are covering, but here we are again. As we were slowly getting back into the rhythm of reviving the country from covid, the Omicron variant demolishes the entire structure like a tower of Jenga. 

The latest data released by the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, between December 29 and January 10, nearly 8.8 million workers reported not working because they were down with the virus or caring for someone who was. The number had nearly doubled compared to the last batch of data collected at the beginning weeks of December. Diane Swonk, an economist at an accounting firm Grant Thornton said "Unfortunately, the biggest issue about Omicron is its no longer just fear of contagion and aversion to in-person activity, but it's actually causing acute labor shortages from the sheer number of people who are sick of it." Even places like the Smithsonian, museums and zoos are reducing the number of functioning hours due to staffing shortages. 

At the same time, the number of first-time applicants to unemployment claims swelled last week to 286,000 reported by the Labor Department on Thursday. The jump is 55,000 from the figures last week, the highest since October. 

Source: The Washington Post