The COVID-19 vaccine rollout and labor market recovery in the U.S: a note

The study examines the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine rollout and labor market recovery in the United States. We employed the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS), covering February 2020–October 2021. With December 2020–October 2021 taken as the vaccine rollout period and February–November 2020 as the pre-vaccine period, we regress this on the number of working hours per week while controlling for other potential confounding factors using the ordinary least square (OLS) regression model. The empirical results show that working hours are significantly higher, since vaccines rolled out than in the pre-vaccine period, which probably reflects increased confidence in immunized individuals and vaccination optimism in the U.S. At the same time, we find that working hours are significantly higher, since vaccines rollout than in the pre-vaccine period among white respondents, while it decreases among black respondents. The regional insights also show that working hours increase during vaccine rollout in the Midwest and South, while we find no evidence in the Northeast and West. From the overall economic standpoint, this finding indicates an accelerating pace of labor market recovery in the United States.