Was this enough to make a large number of people stop working, even now into mid-2022? I really feel like the impact of several thousand dollars would be gone after a year, at most. yet many businesses near me are still under staffed and having trouble hiring.
A lot of people for various reasons have never seen more than a thousand or two in their checking account at once (typically, from tax refunds). So, 8000 is a once-in-a-lifetime amount of wealth. It's sad to think of what's happening at a higher level of course. The government was borrowing money on behalf of everyone and telling everyone to go spend it. Thanks, uncle, I wasn't stupid enough already.
1. Older people taking retirement early when the pandemic hit.
2. People in service/public-facing industries leaving for jobs that could be done remotely, or going back to school.
3. Several hundred thousand working age people dying from COVID.
It all boils down to survival of the fittest and history repeatedly shows and the the US Govt & US Mil demonstrates, violence always wins the day.
a. The official number is ~254,000 (in the USA) which is certainly a major over-estimate. True number is certainly far less.
b. Employees who died or retired don't count as resigned.
Can you point me to your source(s) indicating the lower number you’re referring to?
Then summing the 18-65 buckets (working age).
I saw more than a few people that when from 2 income house holds to 1 because of Student Loan payment defers and the increase cost of Child care made is possible for one of the parents to just stay home..
We also sadly lost a lot of people to covid, and many older people have chosen to retire rather than return to the office.
I think these 3 things are more impactful on the employment market than the direct payments
You're forgetting the child tax credit as well, which was effectively a monthly stimulus check for many, and student loan forbearance, which nets out to something like $10B/month in increased consumer spending power