October job numbers were likely stronger. Why the future still looks uncertain

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A man fills out an application at a booth at the Employers Only Long Island Food, Beverage and Hospitality Job Fair on Oct. 19 in Melville, N.Y. Employers likely added 450,000 jobs in October, which would mark a recovery after two months of disappointing job growth.

Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

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Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the House Oversight And Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., September 30, 2021. Powell has said the Delta variant stalled a jobs recovery, and now policymakers are hoping workers will come back.

Al Drago/AFP via Getty Images

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After Karen Schenck’s bartending job in Tucson, Arizona dried up in the summer of 2020, she moved in with her sister in California, and found gig work as a part-time delivery driver.

«It’s a hustle,» Schenck says. «It’s not my favorite thing.»

She welcomes the break from in-person customer contact, though. And she’s reluctant to return to her old bartending job, even as her former employer is eager to re-hire her.

«It’s so nice to not be yelled at by somebody just because I wasn’t quick on the draw with a Budweiser,» Schenck says.