On Thursday morning, we will get fresh data from the Labor Department about weekly jobless claims. As we head into the new year amid yet another COVID-19 surge, let’s take a moment to look at the state of the job market and what’s ahead.

Despite the pandemic, the economy is still growing.

“With growth that is above the long-term trend in the United States, that means that the job market has to continue to improve,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate.

The question is, will people want all these jobs?

Already, there are a lot of job openings, and people who are looking for work can often take their pick or negotiate for what they want.

“Right now, wages are rising very quickly, benefits are increasing,” said Andy Challenger, senior vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

This will probably continue for a while, he said. “It’s still going to be hard to hire, it’s still going to be an employee’s market in 2022. But it will slowly go away.”

That does depend, in part, on COVID, because as long as schools are closing on and off, parents will have child care issues and may not be able to rejoin the workforce. And other people just won’t be ready to go back if it doesn’t feel safe.