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The U.S. Jobs Report Is A Bright Spot In An Otherwise-Mixed Economic Picture; A Nationwide Shortage Leaves Store Shelves Empty Of A Staple For Many Families. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired May 09, 2022 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Jobs shortages and cave art factor in to our first show of the week.

Happy to have you watching. I`m Carl Azuz.

The reason the U.S. economy gets so much media coverage especially in even numbered years is because those are election years and the economy is often

one of if not the top issue on the minds of American voters. A new economic indicator came out last Friday, it`s the government`s monthly jobs report.

It gives a snapshot of the U.S. employment picture from the previous month.

And for April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says jobs were added. That`s the same number that was added in March. Each month this year, the

economy`s grown by more than 400,000 new jobs and more than 700,000 in February.

There`s also a low unemployment rate. The new report says the percentage of American workers who don`t have a job is 3.6 percent. It was also the same

in April as it was in March, and it`s only one-tenth of a percentage point higher than it was in before the COVID pandemic hit.

America still has 1.2 million fewer jobs than it did before coronavirus, but the economy has been closing the gap since almost 22 million jobs were

lost during the shutdowns of 2020.

There are challenges though. America`s gross domestic product surprisingly shrank in the first three months of the year. That`s not a good sign.

Inflation`s been a persistent problem since 2021. Soaring gas and grocery prices have put a dent in people`s budgets.

Last week`s decision by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by half a percentage point could eventually help bring down inflation, but it`ll

make it more expensive for Americans to borrow money for a house, pay down credit cards, pay back student loans and borrow money for cars and

businesses. The stock market, another economic indicator took a hit last week. It was at its lowest point of the year on Friday.

In the midst of these mixed economic messages, we`ve reported on the Great Resignation. Record numbers of Americans leaving their jobs. Some are

finding their way back to the positions they left.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM KLIMAS, BOOMERANG EMPLOYEE: I am officially a boomerang.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And so are millions of other American workers today. A boomerang, someone

who left an employer before choosing to return. Boomerangs, like Jim Klimas made up 4.3 percent of all U.S. job switches last year, up from 3.3 percent

pre-pandemic according to LinkedIn.

Was there any resistance on your end initially?

KLIMAS: Definitely. Just being concerned that it would feel like a step backward.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Klimas worked in HR at Adobe, but in 2020, he left for a new opportunity. Last year, he returned to Adobe after just 18

months. The average time Americans boomerang back is down from 22 months to 17 months.

KLIMAS: Part of it was during the pandemic it was harder to sink roots into a company. I missed some of the colleagues and the confidence that I

could do important work and add value and have impact was the most important thing.

YURKEVICH: Boomeranging often carries a negative connotation, but that is changing, likely due to the more than 11.5 million unfilled jobs in the

U.S. While a record 4.5 million Americans quit in March. The balance of power has shifted to the employee.

LAURA MAZZULLO, FOUNDER, EAST SIDE STAFFING: Historically, boomeranging was not seen as a positive thing. And I think it`s the first time we`ve

seen employers really welcoming that trend as well to say, we`d love to have you back here.

YURKEVICH: But is it desperation too?

MAZZULLO: Of course. Part of it is that they`re so aware of the competition and they don`t want to lose out.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Will Staney, CEO of Proactive Talent, recruiting firm, says he has three boomerangs working at his 50 person company and

calls them the best untapped secret.

WILL STANEY, FOUNDER AND CEO, PROACTIVE TALENT: They`ve gone and gathered other skill sets elsewhere with the context of what they learned a your

company. The on boarding is smoother. You know, the training, the culture fit is already determined. I think it`s a great, low cost and high quality

way of hiring.

YURKEVICH: It`s also a gut check on the company`s value and culture.

STANEY: A boomerang represents that we`re achieving our goals as a company, that we`re scaling and improving and growing.

YURKEVICH: Like many Americans, Klimas had option when he was looking for his next move. But, ultimately, the familiarity of Adobe, the impact he

felt he could make and remote work helped him seal the deal.

Were you surprised that you ended up back in Adobe?

KLIMAS: Yes. Yes. And a lot of it goes back to the worry or the being careful not to feel like I was taking a step backwards. So, when I -- when

it felt right, it was a surprise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

German chemist Justus von Liebig is credited with creating what?

Soda water, baby formula, plastic or fertilizer?

In the 1860s, von Liebig made patented and marketed a powdered commercial baby formula.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: His invention was considered the first of its kind. It contained just a few ingredients, milk, malt and wheat flour and potassium

bicarbonate. Within 20 years, there were reportedly dozens of different brands of baby formula available. And today, even the organic formulas

contain dozens more ingredients than von Liebig`s invention.

But there`s a problem, baby formula is getting harder and harder to find in America. In most states, between 40 and 50 percent of the top selling

formula brands was sold out in recent weeks. That`s according to grocery research group Date Assembly, and it says in several states, more than half

of their formula stocks are unavailable.

This apparently started with supply chain problems that welled up in the wake of the COVID pandemic, and when it comes to formula, the issue has

only gotten worse because of a massive recall by one of America`s largest suppliers. It doesn`t just make major brands. It also distributes specialty

formulas needed by babies with allergies or sensitive stomachs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN REPORTER, CNN HEALTH: Joy Greene in Springfield, Ohio, is one of the parents impacted by this. Her five-month-old baby

Weston had grown accustomed to a particular Similac formula as many babies do. But a few months ago, Joy started noticing it was really hard to find

Weston`s formula.

That`s because in February, Abbott Nutrition, one of the biggest baby formula producers in the country, recalled several lots of its Similac,

Alimentum and EleCare. Those recalled lots were linked to bacterial infections and a preliminary assessment from the FDA determined that Abbott

did not take steps to prevent products from becoming contaminated during manufacturing. This had made shortages of the formula even worse.

Here`s Joy on what her family is going through right now.

JOY GREENE, MOTHER: It`s been scary to like walk down the aisles and see empty shelves and honestly not be able to find the exact formula that we

need. We have been trying different off-brands, store brands, things like that and some of them he`s tolerating okay and some of them he`s not. But

really it`s just been overwhelming and scary.

HOWARD: So here`s what Abbott says they`re doing to help alleviate the situation. The company says they are increasing production at other

manufacturing sites, and they`ve started releasing some specialty formulas on a case-by-case basis.

In the meantime, Abbott says parents can go to their website and enter their zip code to find their preferred formula closest to their area.

Now, the FDA says Abbott didn`t take steps to prevent contamination at their plant in Michigan. Abbott says they tested the formula before

distributing and did not find any bacteria or salmonella. They say they are working closely with the FDA to restart operations at that Michigan plant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

AZUZ: Ancient Native American cave art has been found somewhere in Alabama. You can`t go there to see it. Researchers are keeping the location

a secret so people won`t vandalize it. And even if you could go, you can`t really see the drawings anyway. They`re practically invisible to the naked

eye.

They were drawn on a very low ceiling that`s hidden from sunlight. Scientists studying the cave had taken thousands of photos of these

ceilings and three-dimensional images of those photos revealed five previously unknown cave drawings. They`re believed to date back over a

thousand years.

The biggest drawing is 11 feet long. Researchers say it appears to show a diamondback rattlesnake. But exactly who drew these, why they were drawn,

the style they were drawn in, it all remains a mystery.

It sure ain`t nouveau or neon. It`s not performance or pop. It`s way pre- pre-impressionism and you could never call it modern. But even if it`s far from precisionism, there`s nothing avant-garde about its expression. The

art decorates the cave with someone`s favorite concepts that still pop in post post-modern times.

Today`s shout-out goes out to Locust Grove Middle School in Locust Grove, Virginia.

We can now mention middle schools but you`ve got to be at least 13 years old to make a request, and the only place we look for those requests is

Youtube.com/CNN10. I`m Carl Azuz.

END