For subscribers
Will the US economy pull off a ‘soft landing’?
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Inflation, which had been quiescent for decades, surged in 2021-22 to levels not seen since the 1980s.
PHOTO: AFP
Paul Krugman
At first, the Covid-19 pandemic dealt a hammer blow to the United States economy. America lost 22 million jobs between February and April 2020. And many analysts worried that the pandemic might leave “lasting scars” in the form of reduced employment, lower output and more.
At this point, however, both total employment and the share of adults in the labour force are right in line with projections made before the pandemic struck. Same with the labour force and gross domestic product. In other words, most economic indicators show no scarring at all.
