Job Growth Slackens, Signaling Vulnerability of Recovery

His Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., said in Wilmington, Del., that “any job added back is positive.” But when working people are asked “how do they feel about the economy coming back,” he said, “you’ll find they don’t feel it.”

Economists said the slowdown was a worrying sign that the low-hanging fruit of the recovery — the rehiring of millions of furloughed restaurant, hotel and entertainment workers — could be largely gone.

Just 174,000 jobs were added last month in leisure and hospitality, a disappointing gain for an industry that lost more than eight million to the pandemic and has recovered only half. And as companies reopen, many are discovering that with demand still weak, they don’t need or can’t afford as many workers as before the pandemic.

Marcus Hotels, which operates more than a dozen hotels, mostly in the Midwest, began reopening its properties in June and has brought back about 60 percent of the nearly 4,000 employees it had before the pandemic. But in recent weeks, it has begun permanently laying off many of the employees who remained on furlough.

“We held out as long as we could, waiting to see what was going to happen,” said Michael Evans, the president of Marcus, who added that it had paid benefits for employees as long as they were furloughed.

Mr. Evans said that he thought the hotel business would bounce back eventually, but that it could take years to return to its previous level. And even when it does, he said, Marcus will probably not need as many workers.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/business/economy/jobs-report.html