Are COVID-19 deaths a major cause of staff shortages in the United States?
Although economists debate the relative importance of different factors contributing to staff shortages -- and even whether there is a widespread shortage -- it's generally agreed that the deaths caused by COVID-19 are not playing a major role.
"The 600,000 deaths due to the pandemic are tragic but are not a major part of the macroeconomic story of the labor market," says Jason Furman of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
As July 2021 began, the death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. was over 595,000, according to the CDC. Of that number, more than 470,000 deaths, or nearly 80%, were among people ages 65 and up, meaning the majority of deaths happened to those who were no longer working.
Economists have raised a number of possibilities, including the lack of child care options, fears about returning to an unsafe workspace, expanded unemployment benefits and low wages.