A worker shortage plaguing businesses has continued to worsen in recent months, posing a new threat to the economy's tepid recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report published Tuesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber found the U.S. had a record 8.1 million vacant job openings in March, the last month for which data is available – an increase of 600,000 from February. But there are only half as many available workers for each open job – roughly 1.4 available workers per opening – as there has been on average over the past 20 years. READ MORE