August employment data released last week shows that the economic recovery remains on track, despite worries about a potential rebound in the coronavirus, according to Nareit Senior Economist Calvin Schnure.
Employers hired back more than a million workers last month, with total payroll employment rising by 1.4 million. This number did include temporary workers hired for the Census, Schnure pointed out, but private payrolls were also up 1 million. The unemployment rate also dropped more than expected, to 8.4%.
At the same time, total employment is 11.5 million below where it was in February, Schnure noted, and less than half of the February to April decline in employment has been reversed at this point.
