The number of job openings was little changed at 10.9 million on the last business day of December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires and total separations decreased to 6.3 million and 5.9 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was little changed at 2.9 percent. The layoffs and discharges rate was … Continue reading
Job openings remain dramatically higher than prepandemic levels. Yet the December unemployment data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that a disproportionate number of minorities, younger workers, and people without four-year degrees remain unemployed. This mismatch may seem intractable, but I’m optimistic from my conversations with CEOs that today’s business leaders can close … Continue reading
Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 4.0 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2021 and increased 2.5 percent in December 2020. Wages and salaries increased 4.5 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2021 and increased 2.6 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2020. Benefit costs increased 2.8 percent over the year and … Continue reading
Although people out of the labor force continue to enter each month at elevated rates, two findings suggest particular risk for the labor market outlook going forward: (1) the exit rate out of the labor market is generally more elevated among those without a four-year postsecondary degree and (2) people who are unemployed continue to … Continue reading
While the unemployment rate continues to fall quickly, labor force participation has made no progress since August 2020. In this US Daily, we examine where labor force participation remains weak and potential explanations for its underperformance. Most of the 5.0mn persons who have exited the labor force since the start of the pandemic are over … Continue reading
The American Trucking Associations estimates that in 2021 the truck driver shortage will hit a historic high of just over 80,000 drivers. This figure is the difference between the number of drivers currently in the market and the optimal number of drivers based on freight demand. While all sectors in the industry struggle with finding … Continue reading
Key facts about U.S. immigration Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ Key facts about U.S. immigration policies and Biden’s proposed changes | Pew Research Center
The COVID-19 recession resulted in a steep but transitory contraction in employment, with greater job losses among women than men. The recovery began in April 2020 and is not complete. As of the third quarter of 2021, the labor force ages 25 and older remains nearly 2 million below its level in the same quarter … Continue reading
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in November, and the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, construction, and manufacturing. Employment in retail trade declined over the month. Household Survey Data … Continue reading
Immigration allows more U.S. elderly to age outside institutions by lowering the cost of home-based care, find Kristin F. Butcher of Wellesley, Kelsey Moran of MIT, and Tara Watson of Williams College. The authors show that a 10-percentage point increase in the less educated, foreign-born share of the local labor force lowers the probability of … Continue reading
How wages are set is central to understanding the growth of wages and earnings, worker mobility, wage inequality, and the causes of unemployment. Bargaining models and explanations based on them assume that workers have the ability to negotiate compensation and that wages incorporate information about a worker’s outside option(s). With renegotiation, wages can adjust in … Continue reading
Because the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recession led to skyrocketing unemployment rates in early 2020, 23 states were forced to take out federal loans to continue paying out unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. While interest was initially waived on these loans, these debts started to collect interest after Labor Day of 2021. In recent months, many … Continue reading
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 531,000 in October, and the unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percentage point to 4.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job growth was widespread, with notable job gains in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in manufacturing, and in transportation and warehousing. Employment … Continue reading
The labor force participation rate1 registered its largest drop on record in 2020, falling from 63.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 60.8 percent in the second quarter of 2020.2 By the second quarter of 2021, the rate had recovered slightly, to 61.6 percent, but was still 1.6 percentage points below its pre-pandemic … Continue reading
The disagreement among studies of the employment effects of minimum wages in the United States is well known. What is less well known, and more puzzling, is the absence of agreement on what the research literature says – that is, how economists even summarize the body of evidence on the employment effects of minimum wages. … Continue reading