In a footnote, however, Powell acknowledged a far more somber factor: an estimated 400,000 unexpected deaths among working age people. 

It's easy to blame these deaths on Covid-19. The virus is of course one significant cause. But it's not nearly the only cause, especially among young and middle-age workers.

We need better government data transparency to make a full assessment. Until then, we can proceed with others who track mortality for a living – life insurance companies. 

The Great Divide – 2020 vs. 2021

In 2020, Covid-19 took many lives, even among select groups of middle-age people, specifically those with comorbidities such as diabetes. In 2020, Covid did not take very many lives of healthy young and middle-age people – for example, the types of people who are employed at large and mid-size companies and who have group life insurance. As you can see in the chart below, group life insurance benefit payments in 2020 were barely higher than in 2018.