Real Time Economics has been tracking the progression of the Beveridge Curve, named after the economist William Henry Beveridge, that tracks the relationship between the job openings rate and the unemployment rate.
With so many jobs available, more people ought to be finding their way to work. An openings rate above 3% has historically meant that the unemployment rate was below 5%, more than a full percentage point away from where it sits today. The curve has not healed to where it was before the recession.
Why are job openings not doing more to reduce unemployment? One reason may be that large recessions often disrupt the traditional relationship between openings and unemployment, and that with time this will heal. After all, the relationship appears significantly closer to normal today than it did at the end of the recession in 2009.
But another school of thought says that some unemployed workers may lack the skills to assume the openings or, put another way, that employers are unwilling to train applicants so that they can fill the available roles. This suggests the economy may have suffered at least some structural damage that will take longer than normal to heal.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at An Updated Look at the Beveridge Curve: A Step Away from Normal – Real Time Economics – WSJ.
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