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While the number of job openings have dropped 11% from their all time high in April, they're still almost exactly the same as this time last year, which is 41%

by jjk166 4y ago

While the number of job openings have dropped 11% from their all time high in April, they're still almost exactly the same as this time last year, which is 41% higher than the prepandemic all time high. Unemployment is the lowest its been in 50 years with every gender and race having their lowest unemployment rate in the past 240 months. The total number of unemployed persons is also the lowest in at least 10 years with a 5% drop from last month alone. Initial jobless rates and quits have been holding pretty much constant for the past 12 months. While the quits rate has gone down from its all time high of 3 to 2.8, that's still .4 higher than it ever was prepandemic. YOY Wage growth remains over 10%, a level not seen since the early 80s. Labor still very much seems to have the upper hand in the current market.

rekabis 4y ago
TL;DR: this article is likely “spin” trying desperately to blunt the tsunami of workers moving to better their own conditions at the expense of arrogant and entitled employers who traditionally have had all the power in the employment relationship. sad trombone noises
MuffinFlavored 4y ago
> Labor still very much seems to have the upper hand in the current market. Serious question but like... the people I interact with at like... Chipotle, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks... They're still making $14-$16/hr no matter what, right? Tight labor market or not? Is that "upper hand"?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- jjk166 4y ago
  The wendys by me is offering $23/hr for walk in hires. And given federal minimum wage is $7.25 even $14-16/hr is still pretty damn good. The median individual income in 2019 was $35,977 or $17.29/hr. Median individual income now is $44,225 or $21.26/hr an increase of 22.8%. The fact is most of these jobs would normally be staffed by young and uneducated people who have few other prospects at that stage in life. However shifting demographic trends mean that there simply aren't as many such people to fill these positions as there were in the past. There are fewer people entering the workforce than exiting it due to retirement, and a greater percentage of young people pursue higher education. Before the pandemic even hit, the US achieved full employment and it was becoming difficult to hire unskilled labor. A lot of low wage positions were only filled by virtue of people not wanting to leave to look for other opportunities. With the pandemic, the decision to move was made for a lot of them. Further, a lot of people who were on the cusp of retirement did so slightly early, and many who would have gotten jobs just for the sake of having something to do did not. Combined with an unanticipated boom in various industries like online shopping, there was an has been a severe worker shortage for some time now. Low wage earners are seeing the largest improvement in the current job market.

by jjk166 4y ago

rekabis 4y ago

TL;DR: this article is likely “spin” trying desperately to blunt the tsunami of workers moving to better their own conditions at the expense of arrogant and entitled employers who traditionally have had all the power in the employment relationship. sad trombone noises

MuffinFlavored 4y ago

> Labor still very much seems to have the upper hand in the current market. Serious question but like... the people I interact with at like... Chipotle, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks... They're still making $14-$16/hr no matter what, right? Tight labor market or not? Is that "upper hand"?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jjk166 4y ago
The wendys by me is offering $23/hr for walk in hires. And given federal minimum wage is $7.25 even $14-16/hr is still pretty damn good. The median individual income in 2019 was $35,977 or $17.29/hr. Median individual income now is $44,225 or $21.26/hr an increase of 22.8%. The fact is most of these jobs would normally be staffed by young and uneducated people who have few other prospects at that stage in life. However shifting demographic trends mean that there simply aren't as many such people to fill these positions as there were in the past. There are fewer people entering the workforce than exiting it due to retirement, and a greater percentage of young people pursue higher education. Before the pandemic even hit, the US achieved full employment and it was becoming difficult to hire unskilled labor. A lot of low wage positions were only filled by virtue of people not wanting to leave to look for other opportunities. With the pandemic, the decision to move was made for a lot of them. Further, a lot of people who were on the cusp of retirement did so slightly early, and many who would have gotten jobs just for the sake of having something to do did not. Combined with an unanticipated boom in various industries like online shopping, there was an has been a severe worker shortage for some time now. Low wage earners are seeing the largest improvement in the current job market.