There is also the issue that it takes some number of net new jobs just to keep up with population growth. I don’t have the latest numbers, but it’s not to far from 100K/month.
IOW, 100K net new jobs this month = unemployment rate stays the same this month. We collectively need to run pretty fast up the down escalator just to stay in place.
Why? The Boomers are retiring at something like 4 million per year. And we know that the unemployment rate really HASN’T stayed the same…it’s been dropping pretty steadily from it’s peak at the height of the last recession.