Almost every small business owner in a Goldman Sachs survey is having trouble hiring — and two-thirds think the federal government has done too little to ease their hiring, supply-chain and inflation worries.

Why it matters: The Goldman Sachs research gives a vivid window into the continuing headwinds and hardship for entrepreneurs.

Millennial homeownership is on the rise — but student loan debt is still keeping millions of members of America's largest generation from owning a home.

Why it matters: Buying a house remains the No. 1 way to build wealth in the U.S.

Yes, the pandemic has created unusual temporary labor market dynamics. But in the bigger picture, the 2010s were a golden age for companies seeking cheap labor. The 2020s are not.

The big picture: In the 2010s, the massive millennial generation was entering the workforce, the massive baby bo0m generation was still hard at work, and there was a multi-year hangover from the deep recession caused by the global financial crisis.

A married female couple will bring home lower wages, on average, than an opposite-gender married couple or a same-gender male couple.

Why it matters: Women in same-gender partnerships can experience (at least) two kinds of discrimination, based on their gender and on their sexual orientation.

Federal agencies are being directed to raise the minimum wages for government employees to $15 an hour, according to new guidance from the Office of Personnel Management shared first with Axios.

Why it matters: The guidance will impact almost 70,000 federal employees, most of which work at the Departments of Agriculture, Defense and Veterans Affairs. OPM is directing agencies to implement the new wage by Jan. 30.

The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions declined by nearly 241,000 people in 2021, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Thursday.

Why it matters: The union membership rate declined back to 2019 levels in 2021 to 10.3%, from 10.8% in 2020.

Job openings have been roaring back across the country, but some metro areas are significantly hotter than others, per a new report from the jobs site Indeed.

Why it matters: Tracking growth in different cities gives us insight into how the pandemic is changing the geography of jobs.

New York City became the latest jurisdiction to tackle wage inequality on Saturday, with employers required to include specific salary ranges beginning in April, CNN reports.

The big picture: States such as Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, Rhode Island and more have all enacted legislation that requires employers to include specific salary ranges on job postings.

Cryptocurrency-related job postings in the U.S. surged 395% between 2020 and 2021, per a new LinkedIn report.

Why it matters: Job growth in crypto dramatically outpaced the wider tech industry, which saw a 98% jump in postings in the same period.

The shortage of workers in the U.S. has become a flywheel of doom, messing up our lives and society writ large. And many of the underlying problems that led to this breakdown are bigger than the pandemic.

The big picture: Millions of immigrants, older workers and mothers are missing from the labor force. Those labor shortages create problems like supply chain woes, school closures, and skyrocketing child care costs — and some of those problems further exacerbate the worker shortages.