The nation’s workforce is growing as the world enters a new age of work and healthcare, but the unemployment rate is still high.

The national unemployment rate has recently fallen to 5.2% according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although the unemployment rate is falling, it is relatively large when compared to the 3.2% rate in January of 2020, according to the national conference of state legislature.

As the economy begins to reopen, many major industries have been exposed to the slow return of employment. The pandemic has created a huge drop in employment, specifically in areas of service and health care.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics health care is expected to grow by 18.2% and the service industry by 17.4% by 2028, which is projected to be faster than average.

“Over 90 percent of employment growth from 2018 to 2028 is projected to be in the service-providing sectors,” said the Bureau of Labor statistics. “Occupations that provide healthcare or services related to healthcare are projected to make up most of the fastest growing occupations.”

In an interview with KVRR, Great Plains Hospitality CEO Dan Hurder discussed the shortage of restaurant workers and the need for workers among most businesses within the community.

“Seventy percent of all open positions across the state of North Dakota have been posted within the last month,” said FMWF Chamber Workforce and Talent Vice President Mason Rademacher.

“Of course additional unemployment is the quickest one to be blamed but there’s a lot of other pressures out there. Child care is a challenge for many right now,” said Hurder, “School schedules are unreliable right now which makes working outside of the home a little bit more difficult. There’s various cash stimulus packages out there that are maybe making second jobs less necessary for a lot of folks.”

With so many recent job openings in the last few months, employers are finding it hard to grow their workforce. As businesses continue to get busier as the state’s economy continues to come back after the pandemic, their need for more workers increases.

“Seventy percent of all open positions across the state of North Dakota have been posted within the last month,” said FMWF Chamber Workforce and Talent Vice President Mason Rademacher.

With so many positions available, the job market has flipped with employees no longer competing for jobs but places of employment competing for workers.

Black Box Workforce Intelligence data reported that in Q2 2021, limited-service hourly wage increased by 10%. Which is one of the greatest increases the workforce has received in years.

“Recently, restaurants have been hit with higher than usual turnover and this is a moment for restaurant owners and managers to take a look at how they do things and what their staff is up against,” Black Box Intelligence said. “By creating a positive work environment and meeting workers’ needs, restaurants can reduce turnover and hire top talent in the tightest labor market we’ve ever seen.”