Since the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic, production has rebounded to pre-pandemic trends. But the effects of the pandemic are ongoing in the US labor market, with stagnant labor force participation rates and a shortage of workers to fill vacant positions. Michael Strain joined a recent episode of “Political Economy” to explain what’s going on.

Mike is the Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy and the Director of Economic Policy Studies at AEI.