Finding enough workers to care for people sick with Covid-19 has emerged as a critical problem in the second pandemic summer, according to hospital executives and nursing administrators in several states. The struggle is an issue largely across the South. The main problem is finding and keeping…
2021’s Hot Wage Growth Will Likely Cool by Year’s End—Before Surging Again by 2023
Thus far in 2021, wages in the U.S. have grown at the fastest pace in over 20 years, fueled by a rapid economic reopening in the wake of Covid-19 vaccinations. This surge is likely to challenge organizations’ recruitment, retention, and compensation strategies in the near term—and over the next…
Tech’s Red-Hot Hiring Spree Shows Signs of Cooling
The brisk pace of hiring in the technology industry during the pandemic is showing signs of slowing down. The industry added jobs in June at a faster pace than before the onset of Covid-19, but in some areas added jobs, such as in computer and electronic products, slower than in prior months,…
Employment Cost Pressures Remain Hot in Second Quarter
The employment cost index advanced 1.3% in the second quarter, down a bit from a 1.4% increase in the first quarter, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had anticipated a 1.1% increase. The slight drop masked increasing wage pressures in…
Hiring Gets Easier for Some Employers Despite Hot Job Market
Some big U.S. employers say they are seeing signs that recruiting workers is becoming less of a challenge. Corporate leaders say the job market still favors workers but say the worst of the hurdles to hiring appear to be over. The economy has made up the number of jobs lost in the aftermath of the…
Jobless Claims Stay Below 200,000 for Fifth Straight Week; Labor Market Still Hot
The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits remained below 200,000 for the fifth consecutive week, signaling the U.S. labor market remains quite robust. New applications slipped to 194,000 from a revised 195,000 in the prior week, according to the government. Economists surveyed by…
Women’s Return to the Workforce Piles Momentum on a Hot Economy
Women have gained more jobs than men for four consecutive months, including in January’s hiring surge, and now hold more than 49.8% of all nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Even as job opportunities grew a year after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 1.5 million…
America’s Hot Labor Market Fuels Job Growth in Unexpected Places
Payroll increases in building, home selling, and automaking, along with larger increases in industries still trying to claw back workers lost during the pandemic, have added almost 1.6 million jobs in the first five months of the year, outpacing forecasts from economists. Construction employment…
When Is It Too Hot to Keep Working? In Most States, Companies Decide
Workers’ advocacy groups are calling for greater protections for construction workers and others who work outside. They say the current heat wave, as well as the specter of future summers with soaring temperatures due to climate change, shows a needs for more protections. In most states, companies…
The ‘Hot’ Labor Market Isn’t Helping a Certain Group of Job Seekers
Despite the fact that 336,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy last month, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, many white-collar workers are having a difficult time finding jobs with better pay or perks. Seventy percent of the September job increases were in three sectors—government,…