These days, good help really is hard to find.

The United States is experiencing a historic labor shortage. Millions of job openings are going unfilled, and workers are quitting at a record pace. It’s impacted economic growth and contributed to the supply chain disruption that’s plagued the promo products market and other industries.

The shortage stems, in part, from an abrupt rebound in demand for workers following the massive layoffs experienced during COVID-19 societal shutdowns. Employers have been eager to hire, but the competition for workers has been fierce.

In addition, many people have opted against a swift return to work for a variety of reasons: COVID fears, childcare issues, pursuing education to better their career path, expanded unemployment benefits and other factors. They’re demanding jobs with better wages and benefits and more flexible schedules. A gap in skills and credentials among would-be workers has hurt hiring too in certain industries.

Many economists expect worker shortages to persist, though others believe the pool of available and willing labor will deepen in the months ahead as virus cases wane, schools reopen and unemployment benefits expire. Either way, America’s labor woes won’t dissipate soon, as the below stats show.

Click here for a PDF of the above infographic.