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Jobs report to show whether worker shortages still slow hiring
With U.S. businesses scrambling to fill millions of jobs as the economy reopens faster than many had expected, Friday's May jobs report will help show if their efforts are succeeding. The fading of the pandemic has caused many consumers to get out, see people and spend money. But it has also produced a disconnect between companies and the unemployed. Businesses are rushing to add workers immediately. Yet many of the unemployed are either seeking better jobs than they had before the pandemic, still lack affordable child care, worry about contracting COVID-19 or have decided to retire early. But even as more states lifted restraints and COVID vaccinations accelerated, that disconnect resulted in a sharp slowdown in hiring in April, when employers added far fewer jobs (266,000) than economists had forecast (995,000, according to one survey). Economists are projecting employers added 650,000 jobs in May.