[loeg]

Employment is higher than it was before Covid and unemployment is down at around the same level. To put it in terms of your metaphor, the bank has given you back $10.10 or so for your $10.

[s1artibartfast]

Except it isn't actually higher.

https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-lab...

[loeg]

You can quibble with the exact threshold, but it certainly isn’t 80% of pre-Covid employment:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/269959/employment-in-the...

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS

[s1artibartfast]

Certainly not 80%, but by all metrics, both mine and yours, it is still below what it was before.

[loeg]

Actually, 158 is greater than 157.

[s1artibartfast]

158 is a projection into the future, not a current number.

It is also not adjusted for population growth, the way labor participation is.

[_ea1k]

Those charts don't seem to be lower now than before.

[rabuse]

Unemployment doesn't account for people not actively seeking work, which is on the rise.

[loeg]

"People not actively seeking work" includes retirees -- which may be partially explained by demographic trends (aging boomers).