U.S. employment recovery shows uneven sector and state gains after pandemic shock

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US employment recovery by sector

Highlights

Total private U.S. employment dropped to 83.8 percent of February 2020 levels in April 2020, rebounded to 104.3 percent by September 2025.
Transportation and warehousing recovered to prepandemic levels by November 2020, reaching 114.6 percent by September 2025, the fastest among major sectors.
By September 2025, 44 states are at or above prepandemic employment, but the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Vermont have not fully recovered.

Employment rebound across major sectors

As reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the analysis uses Current Employment Statistics data to compare pandemic-era job losses and subsequent recovery across industries, with employment levels indexed to February 2020. The measure allows sectors with very different workforce sizes to be assessed on the same scale through September 2025.

Total private employment in the United States falls to 83.8 percent of its February 2020 level in April 2020, a drop of almost 21 million jobs in two months. It returns to its prepandemic level in April 2022 and stands at 104.3 percent by September 2025.

Leisure and hospitality records the sharpest contraction, dropping to an indexed 51.6 in April 2020 as travel and in-person services are hit by closures and distancing measures. Financial activities sees only a limited early decline, reaching 96.8 percent of its prepandemic level in the same month.

Recovery patterns differ widely by sector. Mining and logging, which was already shedding jobs before the pandemic, posts the weakest performance and remains at 88.5 percent of its prepandemic level in September 2025, with 605,000 workers compared with 684,000 in February 2020.

Construction regains the 1.1 million jobs lost between February and April 2020 by February 2022. By September 2025, construction employment reaches 8.255 million, or 108.5 percent of its prepandemic level.

Transportation and warehousing recovers fastest, returning to its prepandemic level in November 2020, the earliest among major sectors. It rises to 114.6 percent by September 2025, supported by sustained hiring in couriers and messengers as online shopping demand increases.

State-level gaps persist in labor recovery

State employment trends also show a mixed picture as reopening timelines and local economic structures shape the pace of recovery. Among the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, 44 states are at or above their prepandemic employment levels in September 2025.

Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, and Oregon recover to earlier employment levels but slip back below them by September 2025. The District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Vermont do not return to prepandemic levels during the period covered by the analysis.

Idaho and Utah lead the recovery, with both regaining previous employment levels before the end of 2020. Hawaii experiences a low in April 2020 and then a new low in September 2020, while Michigan and Nevada post similar downturns but recover more quickly.

Earlier, we discussed how early-career job hopping can drive wage growth for young U.S. workers.

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