U.S. nonprofits lost 50K jobs last month

After months of slow but steady job growth, America’s nonprofit organizations shed more than 50,000 positions in December, a consequence of the economic damage caused by the viral pandemic.

That finding, in a report from Johns Hopkins University, suggests that it could take nearly 18 months for nonprofits to regain their pre-pandemic employment levels. And that assumes the virus will be successfully contained.

Johns Hopkins found that nonprofits employed nearly 930,000 fewer workers last month than they did last February, shortly before the coronavirus erupted in the United States.

Hiring at nonprofits had been generally improving through the summer and fall. But the escalation of the virus beginning in November with the onset of colder weather has intensified the pressures on nonprofits.