Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 528,000 in June.
The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent.
Job growth was widespread, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and health care.
The number of unemployed persons edged down to 5.7 million.
Both total nonfarm employment and the unemployment rate have returned to their February 2020 pre-pandemic levels, prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) decreased by 269,000 in July to 1.1 million.
Looking Forward:
U.S. employers added 528,000 jobs in July as the labor market now has recovered all 22 million jobs lost in the pandemic and continued to defy soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a slowing economy.
Last week, however, initial jobless claims, a gauge of layoffs, rose to the highest level since November based on a four-week moving average. Tech giants such as Oracle, Amazon, Netflix and Robinhood have all announced significant job cuts recently.
Regardless of whether a recession is eventually declared, the latest economic figures show that output is weakening much faster than the job market. The disconnect between the growing job market and otherwise faltering economy boils down to one key point: Despite slowing consumer demand, the supply of workers to make goods and provide services has been considerably below companies’ needs.
Americans still aren’t staying in their jobs, even as fears of a recession settle over the economy. In June, 4.2 million people quit their jobs, according to new data out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, hiring wasn’t slowing down: 6.4 million Americans were hired in June, and the layoff rate stayed low at 0.9%. That means that, even as some do see layoffs and hiring slowdowns, workers for the most part aren’t worried about walking away from their jobs.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 372,000 in June.
Unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent.
Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and health care.
The number of unemployed remained essentially unchanged at 5.9 million.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 1.3 million.
The number of job leavers – that is, unemployed persons who quit or voluntarily left their previous job and began looking for new employment – increased by 68,000 to 832,000 in May.
Looking Forward:
The unemployment rate in June remained at 3.6% for a fourth straight month, the Labor Department said Friday, matching a near 50-year low that was reached before the pandemic struck in 2020.
Many employers are still struggling to fill jobs, especially in the economy’s service sector, with Americans now traveling, eating out and attending public events with much greater
frequency. The Fed may see the June job gains as evidence that the rapid pace of hiring is feeding inflation as companies raise pay and then raise prices to cover higher labor costs.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has held out hope that the economy will continue to expand even as the central bank raises borrowing costs at its fastest pace since the late 1980s. But Powell has also acknowledged that overseas factors, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has elevated gas and food prices, will make it difficult to avoid a recession.
Inflation hit a 40-year high of 8.6% in May amid lingering supply-chain troubles and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Sharply climbing prices are squeezing companies’ profit margins, leading many to scale back hiring plans, says economist Lydia Boussour of Oxford Economics. Consumers are also cutting back as costs swell. Manufacturing and service sector activity is expanding more slowly. And initial jobless claims, a gauge of layoffs, have trended higher in recent months, though they’re still historically low.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 390,000 in May.
Unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent.
Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, and in transportation and warehousing. Employment in retail trade declined.
The number of unemployed remained essentially unchanged at 6 million.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) little changed at 1.4 million.
The number of job leavers – that is, unemployed persons who quit or voluntarily left their previous job and began looking for new employment – declined by 29,000 to 763,000 in May.
Looking Forward:
The U.S. economy continued to see healthy job growth in May, indicating the labor market is still strong despite growing fears of a recession amid sky-high inflation and an increasingly aggressive Federal Reserve.
Job gains were broad-based, with the biggest increases in the pandemic-battered leisure and hospitality industry (84,000), professional and business services (75,000) and transportation and warehousing (47,000). Nearly every industry gained positions last month, with one notable exception: Retail, which shed nearly 61,000 jobs.
Businesses are eager to onboard new employees and are raising wages in order to attract workers as they confront a labor shortage. There were roughly 11.4 million open jobs at the end of April – near a record high – while the number of Americans quitting their job is also well-above pre-pandemic levels.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has acknowledged there could be some “pain associated” with reducing inflation and curbing demand but has pushed back against the notion of an impending recession, identifying the labor market and strong consumer spending as bright spots in the economy. Still, he has warned that a soft landing is not assured.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 428,000 in April.
Unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6 percent.
Job growth was widespread, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, in manufacturing, and in transportation and warehousing.
The number of unemployed remained essentially unchanged at 5.9 million.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) little changed at 1.5 million.
The number of job leavers – that is, unemployed persons who quit or voluntarily left their previous job and began looking for new employment – rose by 6,000 to 793,000 in April.
Looking Forward:
The 428,000 net new jobs last month in the Labor Department’s Friday report is mildly encouraging since every major industry added workers. But the report also contains a warning that inflationary pressure may be starting to hurt the labor market.
While the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.6%, the labor participation rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 62.2%. Labor participation and the workforce have been trending up since January 2021 as lockdowns eased and vaccines rolled out. April represented the biggest labor participation decline since September 2020.
Worker paychecks can’t buy as much as they did even a few months ago, and those without the luxury to work from home have been slammed by surging gasoline prices. Expectations for continued economic growth rest with solid consumer spending, but the jobs report raises the question of how long this will continue if real wages keep falling.
The report likely will do little to sway the Federal Reserve from its current path of interest rate increases. The central bank announced Wednesday it would raise its benchmark interest rate half a percentage point in what will be an ongoing effort to stamp out price increases running at their fastest pace in more than 40 years.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 431,000 in March.
Unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percent to 3.6 percent.
Notable job gains continued in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and manufacturing.
The number of unemployed persons edged down to 6 million.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) decreased by 274,000 to 1.4 million.
The number of job leavers – that is, unemployed persons who quit or voluntarily left their previous job and began looking for new employment – fell by 176,000 to 787,000 in March.
Looking Forward:
U.S. job growth continued at a robust pace in March while the unemployment rate fell, as the Covid-19 pandemic’s grip on the labor market recedes and more workers return to the labor force.
Inflation has eroded consumers’ spending power: Hourly pay, adjusted for higher consumer prices, fell 2.6% in February from a year earlier — the 11th straight month in which inflation has outpaced year-over-year wage growth. According to AAA, average gasoline prices, at $4.23 a gallon, are up a dizzying 47% from a year ago.
Businesses are eager to onboard new employees and are raising wages in order to attract workers as they confront a labor shortage. There are roughly 11.3 million open jobs – the third-highest on record – while the pace of layoffs has moderated in recent months.
Millions of workers are seeing the largest pay gains in years, as companies compete with one another for a limited number of employees: Wages climbed 5.6% in March from the previous year, nearly double the pre-pandemic average of 3%. Many of those gains have been eroded, however, by the highest inflation in nearly four decades that has pushed the price of everyday necessities like gasoline, clothing, and food significantly higher.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 678,000 in February.
Unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percent to 3.8 percent.
Job growth was widespread over the month, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, health care, and construction.
The number of unemployed persons edged down to 6.3 million.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 1.7 million.
Among the unemployed, the number of job leavers increased to 963,000 in February.
Looking Forward:
Job growth accelerated last month, as falling coronavirus cases brought customers back to businesses and workers back to the office.
The U.S. economy still has roughly two million fewer jobs than before the mass layoffs that began two years ago this month, and some workers remain sidelined by health concerns, child care problems or other factors. Many companies still report having trouble finding enough staff to meet demand.
The labor market recovery has overcome every obstacle. Job openings are near a record high. Layoffs are at a new low. And hiring has remained strong in the ebb and flow of successive waves of the pandemic — employers have added at least 400,000 jobs every month since May, the longest such streak on record.
Labor’s survey was conducted before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove up energy prices and rocked markets, developments that economists say could crimp business confidence and hiring in coming months. Gas prices have soared above $5 a gallon in southern California, a state with the highest gas prices in the country, and the rest of the country may soon follow, according to a fuel analyst.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 467,000 in January.
Unemployment rate edged up by 0.1 percent to 4.0 percent.
Employment growth continued in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in retail trade, and in transportation and warehousing.
The number of unemployed persons decreased by 467,000 to 6.5 million.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) declined by 300,000 to 1.7 million in January.
Among the unemployed, the number of job leavers increased to 952,000 in January, following a decrease in the prior month.
Looking Forward:
A record-setting spike in coronavirus cases wasn’t enough to derail the job market recovery at the beginning of the year. Hiring rose higher than expectations.
Service industries were hit hard in January as the latest coronavirus surge led to absences among employees, kept customers away and compounded supply constraints. Perhaps no sector was struck harder than the restaurant and bar industry.
“The economic fallout from each successive wave of the pandemic has been smaller and smaller,” Nick Bunker, economist at jobs site Indeed, said in a note. “This trend, along with strong demand for workers suggests 2022 could be a year with continued strong gains for the labor market.”
The unemployment rate rose slightly in January to 4% from 3.9% in December, with more people joining the workforce. Low joblessness is helping spur wage growth. Wages climbed 5.7% in January from a year earlier, nearly double the average of about 3% before the pandemic hit.
Omicron still affected the job market in January. The variant sent millions of sick workers into quarantine, exacerbating labor shortages at restaurants, airlines and public-transit systems. 3.6 million Americans were employed but absent from work due to illness in January, up from two million in Jan 2021 and 1.1 million in Jan 2020.
It’s a New Year, but it is more of the same for many workers. The Omicron variant of the ever-changing Coronavirus has forced many of us to work remotely, postpone travel plans, and cancel social gatherings, which has further strained our mental well-being.
We know that worker morale is low.
The mental health strain may be most evident at work, where workers experience burnout and are frustrated by their lack of a healthy work-life balance.
In one survey from Talkspace, an online mental health company, 50% of employees felt that work has become too stressful. Many reported working longer hours and feeling pressure to work harder because of managing high employee turnover and juggling multiple projects at once.
And low morale is leading to resignations.
Workers are in a rut, and some are even quitting their jobs to find a better situation with another company or in another profession altogether. 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in November alone. While compensation and benefits are factors, work-life balance, career development, and workplace perks are essential as well.
In our Employee Retention Guide, we discuss some of the reasons why workers are resigning in record numbers. If you haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet, it may be helpful to learn how to market internally to your employees and provide a positive working environment.
Why are mental health discussions between employers and employees necessary?
As employers and employees alike navigate through the ups and downs of the pandemic and other issues affecting mental well-being in the workplace, we know that solid communication is essential.
Many organizations invest in wellness programs that cost billions of dollars, but few understand how their employees feel on a daily basis. This is where managers need to roll up their sleeves and discover what tools and programs can help their employees and coworkers.
But this is easier said than done.
That’s why we want to share a few simple tips with you that might help facilitate honest mental health discussions with your employees. Hopefully, these tips will allow you to be more effective in developing a framework to enhance their well-being.
What does well-being in the workplace look like?
Before we list any tips, let’s define what well-being in the workplace looks like so you can apply that definition to your discussions with employees.
A comprehensive study conducted by Myers-Briggs investigated well-being in the workplace. For over three years, researchers asked more than 10,000 participants about the activities that would contribute to feelings of flourishment while on the job.
The researchers found that well-being was more than just happiness (although it was undoubtedly a contributing factor). They concluded that positive well-being was dependent on the following factors:
Positive Emotions: Frequent feelings of happiness, contentment, and pleasure
Relationships: Mutual feelings of caring, support, and satisfaction
Engagement: Deep psychological connection and absorption in an activity or cause
Meaning: Having a sense of purpose and direction
Accomplishment: Pursuing success or mastery for its own sake
Negative Emotions: Low levels of anxiety, pessimism, and depression
How to get started discussing mental health.
According to a Harvard Business Review study with Qualtrics and SAP,almost 40% of employees surveyed said they have never been asked how they were doing by their manager or co-workers. About the same number of respondents said that the pandemic and other factors worsened their mental health.
From those two statistics, we can gather that facilitating an in-person or virtual environment, especially if it encourages a connection amongst coworkers, can go a long way in improving employee morale.
Now, let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room.
It could be awkward to ask employees to share how they feel if it’s new to them and the manager.
Here are several ways managers can make mental health discussions easier to help their employees have a better sense of well-being while on the job:
Make check-ins a regular meeting on the calendar.
Now that so many people are working at least part of the week remotely, it’s easy for their feelings or issues to go unnoticed.
Regular one-on-ones provide the appropriate setting for employees to share how they’re feeling. It’s their time to discuss their career goals, what they may be struggling with, or anything else affecting their overall well-being.
You can make mental health part of the agenda or just take a few meetings during the meeting to ask them how they’re doing. If you sense they are uncomfortable, the next tip may be helpful.
Embrace the vulnerability.
Experts suggest acknowledging the awkwardness up front to break the ice. You could explain how you care about them and want to make sure they are alright, or share your mental challenges to make them more comfortable sharing theirs.
And it doesn’t have to be a free-form discussion, especially for the first time. Creating questions in advance or framing the conversation in a way that encourages them to assess their feelings on a 1-10 scale could be helpful.
If an employee doesn’t feel comfortable sharing, that’s fine. It’s just important that they know that they have someone to speak to if they want.
Offer flexible solutions based on their answers.
Listening is essential, but your employees will want to know that you heard them. Together, you can problem-solve any issues they may be having proactively.
This may mean working towards a solution for the individual employee (maybe they need to leave early on Wednesdays to pick up their child from school) or revising policies to reflect common issues your employees may be dealing with, especially if it’s during a transition point where a lot of changes are happening all at once. Be as generous and compassionate as you are realistically able to ensure your employees feel valued.
If your employees start to see changes around the workplace based on their feedback in meetings, they may be more willing to share and speak up when they experience negativity in the workplace or feel complacent.
Understand that you can always ask for help too.
You might be in a leadership role, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have all the answers. During an employee discussion, they may have questions about specific policies or resources available to them.
You can always say you’ll get back to them after checking in with HR or your leadership team if you’re unsure. It’s better to come back to them later with a viable solution than to guess or make promises you can’t keep.
This will help you build trust and better understand your wellness resources and policies while determining if they align with your employees’ well-being. If not, an extensive discussion with your leadership team about building a wellness culture should be scheduled.
A Final Message about Well-Being in the Workplace.
We encourage you to review the Myers-Briggs definition of positive well-being in the workplace. If an employee receives positive reinforcement, has strong relationships with co-workers, is engaged with their work, and believes in their career path, they will likely have a stronger sense of well-being in the workplace.
Through your mentorship and communication with employees, you can help build a vital and mentally healthy workplace that is viable in any work environment or external situation.
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Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 199,000 in December.
Unemployment rate edged down by 0.3 percentage points to 3.9 percent.
Employment continued to trend up in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in manufacturing, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing.
The number of unemployed persons decreased by 483,000 to 6.3 million.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) declined by 185,000 to 2.0 million in December.
The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 5.7 million in December.
Looking Forward:
Hiring slowed significantly at the end of last year, a stark indication that employers are struggling to fill positions even as the United States remains millions of jobs short of pre-pandemic levels.
Economists said the report increased the chances that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates quickly to cool off the economy, since wage growth threatens to keep prices increasing as businesses try to cover their climbing labor costs.
The report on Friday came with an important caveat: The data was collected in mid-December, before the pandemic’s latest wave revealed its strength. Since then, the Omicron variant has ignited a steep rise in coronavirus cases, driving up hospitalizations and keeping people home from work.
There is widespread optimism that the Omicron surge will be short-lived and that the economy will then regain momentum. But economists are bracing for the surge in cases to curtail job growth in January and in the coming months.
There is plenty of evidence of momentum underlying the uneven economic recovery, and signs abound that jobs are numerous even if workers are hard to find. The share of people quitting their jobs just touched a record, and ashortfall of workers has caused many businesses to curtail hours or services.
