DETROIT – Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus.
Until now, it was mostly hair salons, restaurants, tattoo parlors and other small businesses reopening in some parts of the country.
But the auto industry is among the first major sectors of the economy to restart its engine. With it comes about 133,000 U.S.
workers pouring back into assembly plants that will open in the coming week, or just over half of the industry's workforce before the pandemic, according to estimates by The Associated