unemployment insurance or other benefits from the government . However , the data do not support this theory . Indeed , the number of men and women who receive unemployment insurance in West Virginia now stands at just over 8,000 . By contrast , the figure stood at over 14,000 just before the COVID-era in early 2020 , and it peaked at over 140,000 during the worst of the COVID-19 recession . Similarly , the number of men and women receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits in West Virginia has fallen and now stands substantially below its early 2020 level .
While this is not a fully resolved question , the clearest current explanation is simply that many men and women retired early as a result of the health concern and overall chaos that the pandemic and recession created . A recent analysis from the Roosevelt Institute shows that 90 % of the men and women who left the labor force since late 2019 were over 55 years of age , suggesting a surge in early retirements . The presumption is that many of these men and women wanted to escape the economic and public health turmoil our economy was facing , and they simply opted to retire early , even though their retirement savings were not quite as high as they would have been during normal economic conditions .
Economists are monitoring what we term unretirements — that is , men and women who left the labor force for retirement but are now deciding to re-enter the workforce . The unretirement statistic has recovered to its early 2020 position , but further gains are needed to erase this broad problem . Right now , the economy is in a wait-and-see mode
where we continue to look for labor force entries from a variety of sources as well as increased mechanization that may eliminate the need for some jobs altogether . However , it is hard to predict how long this evolution will take .
As if these worker shortages were not creating enough economic distress , we must also consider the implications of this problem . It is clear employers are having to pay more for workers since they now have to compete more aggressively for employees . Much of the costs of increased wages are then being passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices . It ’ s not surprising then that workforce shortages , combined with supply chain constraints , have combined to drive inflation to its highest rate in 40 years .
16 %
14 %
12 %
10 %
8 %
6 %
4 %
2 %
0 %
-2 %
Inflation Rate
Consumer Price Index , all items , % change year-over-year
1968 1970
1972 1974
1976 1978
1980 1982
1984 1986
1988 1990
1992 1994
1996 1998
2000 2002
2004 2006
2008 2010
2012 2014
2016 2018
2020
Source : John Chambers College of Business and Economics .
2022
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