The U.S. economy has staged a remarkable recovery from COVID shutdowns but needs better job training for front-line workers to accomplish robust growth.
The economy is still firing below potential because despite the abundance of job openings, several million adults who quit the labor force during the pandemic have not returned.
Help-wanted signs abound in the windows of restaurants, small retailers, the backs of delivery trucks and elsewhere for lower-skilled workers. Many are for jobs that pay $20 an hour or less, and gone missing most are workers with just a high school diploma or less.
Fringe concerns
Economic theory suggests some of the benefits in President Joe Biden’s stillborn Build Back Better program and similar progressive proposals could make work more attractive.
However, a recent Harvard study of low-wage workers indicates what counts most for front-line worker are hours and…
