Posted on 08/06/2021 8:13:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Starting in 2018 and lasting all the way until the covid pandemic, a remarkable golden age flourished in the US job market: that's when for 24 consecutive months there were more job openings in the US than unemployed people. Of course, this remarkable strength in the job market ended with a thud in early 2020 when the US economy was shut down in March due to the covid pandemic, and when there were a record 18.5 million more unemployed than there were job openings.
How things have changed since then: according to the BLS, as of July the number of unemployed employees had dropped to 8.7 million, down sharply from 9.5 million in June and the lowest since March 2020. But what is more notable is that this happens during a time of historic labor shortages, with the NFIB yesterday reporting that unfilled job openings at small business had hit a new record high, with 49% of owners reporting job openings they could not fill in July, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report. Unfilled job openings have remained far above the 48-year historical average of 22%.
“Small business owners struggled to find qualified workers for their open positions, which has impaired business activity in the busy summer months,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Owners are raising compensation to the highest levels in 48 years to attract needed employees.”
And putting this number in its proper context, according to the latest JOLTs report, there were 9.2 million job openings as of May with the NFIB report confirming that this number had only risen in the subsequent two months.
What this means is that at least according to this key measure, the US jobs market has not only shown "substantial further progress" but has now fully renormalized.
There is one caveat: when all emergency unemployment benefits expire next month, it is likely that many of those job openings will be filled as millions of people currently receiving government welfare have to rejoin the labor force leading to a sharp drop in job openings, assuming of course that the delta variant, and lambda that is following, won't shut down the economy in the coming weeks.
I wish I was young again. I could have 2 jobs like I usually held my whole life.
What’s stopping you from working part time?
The whole country (or at least here in the midwest) is covered with “Help Wanted” signs.
How many of the new jobs are to babysit illegal immigrants and provide them free services paid for by the taxpayers?
Robots 🤖
“There Are Now More Job Openings Than Unemployed Workers”
Perhaps there are more help wanted signs than unemployed workers.
Waiter, this meal appears uncooked.
That’s when you truly have a job opening.
If the job is getting done, and overtime isn’t getting paid, and the owner isn’t getting off his couch to do the job himself, and someone hasn’t given notice, there is no real job opening.
I have not seen a business closed for lack of help here in my high housing cost part of Florida.
Went to a local pancake restaurant this week and on their white board at the entrance was written:
“Due to government largesse we are struggling to find workers, please be patient with our service”
It took a thud during the pandemic because state Governors shut down the economy. No one can convince me this was not a planned tactic. The one thing Trump could hang his hat on and be 100% re-elected on was the economy.
In the north, summer time is play time.
If young folks can get unemployment benefits they will hang out at the beach until the weather gets colder...then they will go back to work.
How many overtime hours are being paid for nationwide?
Are they even 2% of base rate hours?
“There Are Now More Job Openings Than Unemployed Workers”
Are there more job openings that there are people on welfare?
As an employee, I always liked paid overtime.
if you pay them, they will stay home...
Here in my rural Midwestern town of 17,000, there are help wanted signs on almost every business, from factories to restaurants to Wal Mart. Had a contractor friend tell me that 3 of his 7 usual workers are sitting at home, telling him they make more from Covid checks than from working. Our favorite hometown diner is only open for breakfast and lunch because they can’t find enough staff to work at dinner time. The checkout in the garden section at Wal Mart was closed in the middle of the day in July, something I’d never seen before. A sign at the register said, “We’re hiring!”
The stats are GIGO. Try submitting a resume, If your keywords are an exact fit it won’t be read. That’s why jobs go begging.
My daughter graduated May 2021 with a BSN (nursing) and passed NCLEX for her RN license. She has applied for nurse internship/residency programs in most of the hospitals in Dallas County and Collin County. She has had about 20 interviews but no job offers so far.
There are many openings for experienced nurses but it is very difficult for a RN grad with no experience to get hired.
I would definitely hire somebody who worked through this period over anybody who decided to be lazy and to mooch off of taxpayers like me, who never got a dime.
“She has had about 20 interviews but no job offers so far”
That is the rub.
Good paying jobs like Nursing, are full.
Shiite jobs like waitressing at the Pancake House are not.
Lots of folks in “Business” have their entire business model built on shiite jobs offering shiite pay. Lots in the past “employing” illegals.
Good jobs, with fair pay and opportunity, in areas where someone can afford to live, are filled.
The rest? not so much.
We’ve had ZERO folks leave. Busy, happy folks are great to work with.
In addition, the font. EBT dole is trough the roof. They can't spend it all and it is causing a people for those on SSI and welfare because since they can't spend it all it's increasing their monetary asset over the $2000 threshold.
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