Yes, I agree that is part of it.
The other part is millions of boomers took early retirement. Which should have caused a shift in the workforce. IE: we are witnessing the Great Resignation of people changing jobs for something better. Which often times is leaving their old position open or unfilled, even at an increased wage & benefit offer.
That opening coupled with people now making the choice to stay home with the kids is not a bad choice, IMHO. People have rediscovered an important priority in their lives. Their children, raising them, and in many cases educating them having witnessed the public school system via Zoom.
If this particular trend holds in a positive way this particular generation may be creating our Nation’s next ‘greatest’ generation.
Also look at the table I linked very closely over the past year for the unemployment rate. There’s no way it is 3.6% or whatever they are claiming.
I was one of them. I picked a heck of a time to go on a fixed income (and to stop smoking, stop sniffing glue, etc. - just saving the next poster some time).
There are also a lot of formerly middle class people being pushed down because they have lost good paying jobs with benefits who are now stuck scrambling with lower paying or part-time work. The same is true in Europe, which explains the "populist" sentiment against further immigration even as businesses clamor for more and governments bend over to kiss immigrants' behinds, just like here.
If the statistics suggest everything is good but the majority feel the economy stinks, the statistics are wrong.