The Real Economy Blog

employment

Canada’s employment is back to pre-pandemic levels

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Most of Canada’s employment statistics in September returned to pre-pandemic levels, clear good news of a recovery, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday. Canada added an encouraging 157,000 jobs in September, bringing its total employment to just over the February 2020 level. In a similar fashion, the labor force participation rate ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: Consumer confidence is sign of good things to come

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The June reading of the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index is a sign of good things to come with respect to hiring and spending in months ahead. The index increased to 127.3 in June from a revised up 120 in May. The topline index is traditionally interpreted as a forward-looking indicator of consumer spending and is very sensitive to employment ... READ MORE >

U.S. June employment report: Look for robust hiring above 750,000

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We expect a total change in employment of 750,000 and a decline in the unemployment rate to 5.6% in the U.S. June employment report. The major economic narrative to emerge from the summer hiring reports will likely be that consumers are flush with cash and pivoting to demand services, which will bolster overall hiring during the summer months. Thus, the June ... READ MORE >

Pandemic pressures leave women struggling to regain lost ground on jobs

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During the pandemic, women have taken the brunt of the damage to the labor force, whether in the form of losing their jobs or working triple-duty at home with child care and education on top of their work obligations. Real wage differentials between men and women during the pandemic have turned into a chasm, with the gap increasing by more than 19% at the ... READ MORE >

March jobs report blows past expectations with best still to come

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An American economy about to regain its swagger after a year of pandemic-induced crisis was on full display in the March jobs report. The labor market added 916,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate declined to 6% from 6.2%. After adding in the 156,000-job upward revision to the January and February reports, the net change was an increase of 1.072 million ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: Lagging employment in education and health care

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Even as the economy begins to recover and jobs return, employment remains well below pre-pandemic levels in many key sectors. Two of these areas are education and health care, according to data recently released by the Labor Department. Overall, there are 1.3 million fewer educational and medical personnel on payrolls compared to a year ago. But as the ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: U.S. job openings improve

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Workers are growing more confident in their ability to find a job, according to the most recent Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 5.1 million separations from employment on the back of 6.65 million job openings during October, according to the survey. The bureau considers the number of ... READ MORE >

Pandemic economics: Prospects for permanent job losses rising

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Just as the coronavirus pandemic is forcing profound changes in the way Americans live and behave, it will also likely prove to be a catalyst for permanent changes in the economy and labor force. The long-term damage to the economy is already reshaping notions of where we work, how we work and how long we work each week. The data are already ... READ MORE >

Employment in black and white: Wage inequality

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The American condition, no matter how one measures it, inevitably comes back to jobs and wages. Wage inequality, whether between men and women, or African-Americans and whites, is a real concern. Civil unrest in 350 of the 390 major metropolitan areas of the United States is not only a function of demands for social justice, but also the result of ... READ MORE >