> I am getting tired of the whiplash between "it's harder than ever to find a job" and "the economy has recovered and unemployement is record lows". This is normally easily explainable
The bank J.P. Morgan recently published an analysis about employment in the US [1] (this is the best source I could initially find with no paywalls and a non-superficial, sector-by-sector look at the data). According to the report:
* "The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the U.S. economy added 275,000 jobs in February." However, "unemployment rose to 3.9% in February, the highest rate since January 2022." In January 2024, the overall employment rate was 3.7%.
* "A spike in construction, retail and food services jobs contributed to the surprising gain in employment in February."
* "Payroll gains in February were distributed across many areas of the economy. Health care, leisure and hospitality and government led the way, contributing to almost three quarters of the job gains."
This matches with the anecdotes that I've been hearing from day-to-day conversation: certain sectors such as health care and the service industry are short on people, whereas openings are far fewer in other sectors such as technology. However, I couldn't find employment data specific to the tech sector in this brief report.
Tried to hire a plumber or concrete placer lately? Prepare to be ghosted or given a "fuck off" quote. However, place a listing for "web developer wanted" and you'll drown in applicants. It turns out that when fields close to technology and media tighten up, the techno-media bubble lose their minds about it. Not so much when the labourer market dries up.
* "The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the U.S. economy added 275,000 jobs in February." However, "unemployment rose to 3.9% in February, the highest rate since January 2022." In January 2024, the overall employment rate was 3.7%.
* "A spike in construction, retail and food services jobs contributed to the surprising gain in employment in February."
* "Payroll gains in February were distributed across many areas of the economy. Health care, leisure and hospitality and government led the way, contributing to almost three quarters of the job gains."
This matches with the anecdotes that I've been hearing from day-to-day conversation: certain sectors such as health care and the service industry are short on people, whereas openings are far fewer in other sectors such as technology. However, I couldn't find employment data specific to the tech sector in this brief report.
[1] https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/outlook/economic-outlook/j...