Jun 6, 2017

Job openings soar: more evidence of a skilled-worker shortage

The number of job openings rose to another all-time high in April, according to data released Tuesday by the Labor Department. At the same time, the rate at which firms are hiring new workers fell to a one-year low.

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Note: Previous version of the chart had "New hires" and "Job openings" labels switched. Chart: Andrew Witherspoon / Axios

Why it matters: Firms are demanding more labor, but not finding qualified workers, even as millions of Americans remain unemployed or outside the formal labor market. This is evidence of an expanding skills gap between what Americans can do and what Corporate America needs done. It may also convince some Federal Reserve members that wage inflation is on the horizon, and could motivate the central bank to raise rates again when it meets next week.

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Marisa Fernandez

Wages for typical workers are rising at their fastest rate in a decade

Construction workers holding a rally in the Bronx. Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

Wages for nonsupervisory employees — who make up 82% of the workforce — are rising at the fastest rate in more than a decade, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: It indicates that the benefits of a tightening labor market and a time of historically low unemployment rates are finally being passed along to most workers.

Go deeperDec 27, 2019

Courtenay Brown

U.S. economy adds 145,000 jobs in final report of 2019

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios Visuals

The U.S. economy added 145,000 jobs in December, the government said on Friday, below economists’ expectations of 160,000. The unemployment rate held at 3.5% — a 50-year low — while wages grew 2.9% from a year earlier, the smallest gain since July 2018.

Why it matters: The U.S. job market held up in the final month of 2019, but heads into the election year with a slowing pace of job creation and wage growth.

Go deeperJan 10, 2020

Zachary Basu

Robert Lighthizer tells Mexico: USMCA "attachés" are not "labor inspectors"

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Photo: Rodrigo Arangua/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a letter to a top Mexican trade negotiator Monday that the full-time diplomats, or attachés, designated to uphold labor standards in the version of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) sent to Congress are not "labor inspectors."

Why it matters: Mexico’s Undersecretary for North America Jesús Seade flew to Washington on Sunday to confront U.S. officials over the inclusion of language that would appoint attachés to implement labor reform in Mexico, accusing the Trump administration of blindsiding them. The intervention has thrown a wrench in the House's tentative plan to vote on the North American trade deal on Thursday.

Go deeperDec 16, 2019