Economists caution it is too soon to say the labor market is rolling over or a recession is in the wings. Nonetheless, an accumulation of data suggests that the labor market is notably cooling. The question now is whether the rebalancing has gone too far and those groups that benefited most from the tight labor market will see those gains dissipate, or endure. At first, the pandemic seemed to put an end to the high-pressure labor market. The unemployment rate in early 2023 clocked its lowest level in over a half century, and more people entered the labor market.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 04, 2024 04:41 UTC