New research predicts long-term pain for the labor market due to around 3 million workers who plan to remain permanently sidelined over concerns of physical illness or physical impairment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) take: “The authors of the long social distancing study have produced very helpful data on those no coming back into the labor force, estimating a 3.5 million shortfall in March by comparing the current observed level with a linear trend using the time period of January 2015 to December 2019 as the basis for the forecast,” said Erik Randolph, GCO’s director of research. “Using the current employment statistics survey instead of the current population survey, our own research shows a shortage of 6.6 million employed persons that would include persons holding multiple jobs. We use the same method of comparison by subtracting the forecasted data from the observed data, but instead of using a linear trend as the basis for comparison that can often overestimate the forecasts, or the reverse, we use an ARIMA forecast model, not for five years but starting at the low point after the Great Recession. In addition, our research provides forecasts and analyses for each of the 50 states where there is a wide disparity when it comes to job recovery.”

For more, read Randolph’s research report on the economic impact of the pandemic shutdowns.