Economics
U.S. Jobs & Labor Report: April 2023
Report summary
The U.S. labor market remains very tight. Unemployment is low, as is the incidence of pay or income losses, according to Morning Consult’s high-frequency tracker. There are still nearly two open positions for every unemployed job seeker, and the share of employed U.S. adults who are actively applying for new roles has risen in recent months. At the margins, there are some signs that the labor market is cooling as labor force participation edges higher, wage growth moderates and businesses rein in hiring plans. However, a full year after the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates, most labor metrics still reflect a robust labor market.
Key Takeaways
- The share of U.S adults reporting lost pay or income fell from 9.7% in February to 9.5% in March, reflecting the resilience of the U.S. labor market.
- The share of employed U.S. adults actively applying for new positions continued to climb in March, reaching a new series high.
- As reported in Morning Consult’s Small- and Medium-Sized Business Report, difficult operating conditions are leading SMBs to slow hiring.
About the authors
John Leer leads Morning Consult’s global economic research, overseeing the company’s economic data collection, validation and analysis. He is an authority on the effects of consumer preferences, expectations and experiences on purchasing patterns, prices and employment.
John continues to advance scholarship in the field of economics, recently partnering with researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland to design a new approach to measuring consumers’ inflation expectations.
This novel approach, now known as the Indirect Consumer Inflation Expectations measure, leverages Morning Consult’s high-frequency survey data to capture unique insights into consumers’ expectations for future inflation.
Prior to Morning Consult, John worked for Promontory Financial Group, offering strategic solutions to financial services firms on matters including credit risk modeling and management, corporate governance, and compliance risk management.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and philosophy with honors from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in economics and management studies (MEMS) from Humboldt University in Berlin.
His analysis has been cited in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Washington Post, The Economist and more.
Follow him on Twitter @JohnCLeer. For speaking opportunities and booking requests, please email [email protected]
Jesse Wheeler previously worked at Morning Consult as a senior economist.
