Fitch Ratings projects that jobs lost during the COVID pandemic will be regained by the end of August 2022.  At the present time, the U.S. has approximately 1.6 million fewer positions than in February 2020.  According to Fitch, 13 states including major employers in Florida and Georgia have fully recovered.  In contrast, recovery from the Great Recession in 2007 through 2009 took approximately six years.

Fitch warned that labor shortages will arise in many states, especially located in the West and Midwest where recovery has exceeded expectations.