Heterogeneous Labor Market Impacts During the Early Stages of the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic is having profound impacts on labor markets around the world. This paper analyzes the heterogeneous impacts observed during the early stages of the pandemic across different occupations and workers using the latest available labor force survey data from the Current Population Survey, the primary source of labor force statistics for the United States. I show that the early stages of the pandemic had a disproportionately negative impact on employment and hours in lower-paying occupations. The one notable exception are janitors and building cleaners, for whom employment grew strongly between mid-February and mid-March 2020. Workers who were employed in lower-paying occupations in mid-February 2020 are disproportionately less likely to be employed by mid-March 2020 compared to workers who were employed in higher-paying occupations. I also document increased attrition from the sample among workers who were employed in lower-paying occupations in mid-February 2020.