Labor disruptions caused by COVID-19 in the U.S. agriculture and nonfarm industries. (Special Section: COVID-19 and the agriculture industry: labor, supply chains, and consumer behavior.)

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment has surged in many sectors of the economy. While unemployment in food services is largely the product of demand-side shocks, such as restaurant and school closures, unemployment in food processing and production is related to supply-side factors such as issues of worker safety.