The economy has recovered just over half of the 22 million jobs lost since the start of the pandemic.

Last week's reading on employment was the last we will see in 2020. We believe that we have had enough bad economic news this year and are looking for a better year in 2021. The gain of 245,000 jobs was seen as disappointing, as the gain in jobs has slowed significantly as the year has worn on. In total, the economy has recovered just over half of the 22 million jobs lost since the start of the pandemic. The unemployment rate of 6.7% is well below the peak unemployment rate of 14.7%. As impressive as these numbers are, there is still a long way to go.

As we have said all along, the economic news this year is not as important as the medical news. A full recovery does not occur without the end of the pandemic. This is why the announcement of successful vaccine trials have been met with euphoria in the stock market. The stock market is not reacting to the jobs lost in 2020. The stock market is reacting to news that could bring a brighter future for us all.

Keep in mind that this does not mean that we are out of the woods. There is still a long way to go. But it does mean that we will finally have a path out of the woods. Many times during the pandemic, we had no path. We were moving forward, but there seemed to be no end to the woods. It is the world of medicine which will give us this path. We are really looking forward to 2021 as we travel along the path to recovery. The heroes of 2020 were our first responders. We hope the heroes of 2021 will be the companies that bring us effective vaccines.