Labor Markets During the Covid-19 Crisis: A Preliminary View

16 Pages Posted: 24 Apr 2020

See all articles by Olivier Coibion

Olivier Coibion

University of Texas at Austin

Yuriy Gorodnichenko

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Michael Weber

University of Chicago - Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: 2020

Abstract

We use a repeated large-scale survey of households in the Nielsen Homescan panel to characterize how labor markets are being affected by the covid-19 pandemic. We document several facts. First, job loss has been significantly larger than implied by new unemployment claims: we estimate 20 million lost jobs by April 8th, far more than jobs lost over the entire Great Recession. Second, many of those losing jobs are not actively looking to find new ones. As a result, we estimate the rise in the unemployment rate over the corresponding period to be surprisingly small, only about 2 percentage points. Third, participation in the labor force has declined by 7 percentage points, an unparalleled fall that dwarfs the three percentage point cumulative decline that occurred from 2008 to 2016. Early retirement almost fully explains the drop in labor force participation both for those survey participants previously employed and those previously looking for work.

Keywords: labor market, unemployment, employment, covid-19

JEL Classification: E310, C830, D840, J210, J260

Suggested Citation

Coibion, Olivier and Gorodnichenko, Yuriy and Weber, Michael, Labor Markets During the Covid-19 Crisis: A Preliminary View (2020). CESifo Working Paper No. 8238, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3584089 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3584089

Olivier Coibion (Contact Author)

University of Texas at Austin ( email )

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Yuriy Gorodnichenko

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Economics ( email )

549 Evans Hall #3880
Berkeley, CA 94720-3880
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~ygorodni/index.htm

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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Michael Weber

University of Chicago - Finance ( email )

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Chicago, IL 60637
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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