When we talk about workers going back to their offices, the goal for most people is to return to the normal routines of life. But there's at least one group of former office-dwellers who are viewing the return as uncharted territory: parents who had their first child during the past 18 months.
The U.S. remains in a deep employment hole, with 6.7 million fewer jobs in June than there were in February 2020. But that overstates the weakness in the economy, with last week's second-quarter gross domestic product report showing American output is back at an all-time high.
A paradox of this economic crisis is that while U.S. unemployment remains high, the net worth of American households may be at a record, thanks to the soaring prices of stocks and homes.
Underappreciated is the improvement in the pandemic situation in southern states that were hot spots just a month ago.
Already, apartment rents are plunging in cities such as San Francisco, Seattle and New York. But a significant constraint is going to be how much out-of-the-way communities are willing or able to grow.
We're seeing that there are meaningful differences between the last downturn and this one.
