Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios Visuals
There's one sector where hiring moderation is clear: leisure and hospitality.
Why it matters: In 2022, the labor market was fueled by restaurants, bars, hotels and others in the sector staffing up at a furious pace, and offering big pay gains to pull in workers they let go during the pandemic.
But the 2021-22 boom-time employment trends in the sector are now in the past: July is the fourth consecutive month that the sector has seen little change in employment.
By the numbers: In the final quarter of 2022, job gains averaged 81,000 each month. That's slowed to 19,000 in the second quarter of 2023. July's data shows the sector added 17,000 jobs.
The result is a comedown from the eye-popping pace of wage growth. In July, average hourly earnings were up 5.6% over the previous 12 months. In July 2022, wages rose 9%.
Of note: The sector is still 352,000 jobs short of its pre-pandemic level.
The intrigue: Average hourly earnings does not account for compositional shifts in the labor force.
A slowdown in hiring in lower-wage sectors like leisure and hospitality is likely impacting the overall wage snapshot provided by this measure — making wage growth look higher than it really is.