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By Douglas A. McIntyre, 24/7 Wall St.
The jobs recovery over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic has been remarkable. In February 2020, the national unemployment rate was 3.5%. By April, it had reached 14.3%, the highest level since 1948. The unemployment figure in September was 4.8%.
The number of job vacancies in America is unusually high, as employee supply has not kept up with the recovery. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, there were 9,620,333 job vacancies in the second quarter of this year.
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The level of jobs available compared to those unfilled helps determine which jobs are in the greatest demand. Job recruitment website Lensa has created a Lensa Index, which looks at demand by state of total jobs listed from January 2021 to June 2021. It also looks at jobs per 100,000 and jobs by category. The firm looked at its own internal data to determine ranks. There is no way to say whether this is a reasonable methodology. It is certainly not a traditional measure.
California has the greatest number of unique job listings at 4,361,094, which is not surprising since it is the largest state by population. Texas ranks second with 3,175,319. As it is the second-largest state by population, again, no surprise.
Based on unique job openings per 100,000, Vermont ranked first with 31,031 and Iowa second at 26,983. Both states have extremely low unemployment. According to the Census Bureau, the jobless rate in August was 3.0% in Vermont and 4.1% in Iowa.
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The most in-demand job in America, according to the report, was customer service representative, followed by receptionist, administration assistant, customer service and warehouse associate. Almost certainly, these are low-paying jobs.
There is a reason low-paying jobs go unfilled. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “Employers post their too-low wages, can’t find workers to fill jobs at that pay level, and claim they’re facing a labor shortage.”
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