U.S. will get back all jobs lost during COVID-19 pandemic by spring 2023: economist Mark Zandi

The U.S. economy regained 49,000 jobs in January as additional fiscal stimulus out of Washington helped companies keep employees on the payroll.

But there is still a long way to go. Only about 12 million of the 22 million jobs lost during the first couple of months of the COVID-19 pandemic have returned, leaving nearly 10 million Americans out of work.

“I think we'll get all the jobs back that we lost in the pandemic recession by the spring of 2023,” Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi told Yahoo Finance Live. “It would be quite an achievement but one we can achieve.”

And that’s if everything goes according to Zandi’s baseline estimate, which includes another round of fiscal stimulus getting passed in Washington and the U.S. reaching “some form of herd immunity” by Labor Day.

While funding for vaccine distribution is one component of Biden’s stimulus proposal that’s garnering bipartisan support, Democrats and Republicans remain far apart on what is necessary to help the economy recover.

The Senate passed a budget resolution Friday morning after 15 hours of debate, a move that enables Democrats to approve President Biden’s $1.9 trillion package without Republican support.

Congressional Republicans argue the package is too large and needs to be more targeted. In a letter to the White House on Thursday, 10 Republican senators wrote that they remain “committed to working in a bipartisan fashion” but have “significant questions about the size and scope” of the Biden administration’s proposal.

Despite the fact that both sides of the aisle remain deeply divided on what’s necessary for the economy, Zandi said he is “confident we’re going to get more fiscal support… and that’s a good thing.”

“My preference would be for lawmakers to come to a bipartisan agreement… somewhere north of a trillion dollars,” said Zandi. “I think that would be sufficient to help the economy get from here to the end of the pandemic...And then after that, we can see where the economy is, how it's performing and see what additional help is needed to get the economy back to full employment as soon as possible.”

Seana Smith anchors Yahoo Finance Live’s 3-5 p.m. ET program. Follow her on Twitter @SeanaNSmith

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