The latest report builds on months of economic momentum, with US employers adding a record 7 million jobs last year. The economy added 678,000 jobs in February alone, bringing the unemployment rate to a pandemic low of 3.8 percent, Labor Department data shows.
That strong read — which helped fuel the Federal Reserve’s determination to start raising rates this month — has also given workers new leverage as they seek better working conditions and higher wages.
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“The labor market is still struggling due to strong employer demand and increasing worker mobility,” said Daniel Zhao, senior economist at job hiring site Glassdoor. “We’re still seeing a lot of vacancies and layoffs and layoffs at record lows.”
Americans who switched jobs experienced a typical pay rise of 6.6 percent last year, while those who stayed saw a 5.4 percent pay increase, according to a widely followed measure of wage growth by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Both numbers, reported as 3-month averages, are at or near the highest rates recorded since the late 1990s.
But inflation has wiped out many of those wage gains and contributed to growing unease in the economy. A growing proportion of Americans — 21 percent — name rising prices as the country’s biggest problem, up from 10 percent in February, according to a new Gallup poll.
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The survey also suggests that concerns about costs outweigh positive news on unemployment. A majority of 75 percent say the economy is deteriorating, up from 70 percent in February. “Unemployment” ranks at the bottom of a list of national concerns, with 32 percent saying they are “very concerned” about it, but 59 percent are very concerned about inflation and 58 percent are concerned about the economy in general.
These concerns are likely contributing to increased job hopping among Americans trying to take advantage of a tight job market.
Jeff Gabbard quit his IT job in Indianapolis in February, thinking it would be about three months before he found a new job. It lasted less than two weeks.
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His job hunt was a far cry from earlier in the pandemic, when Gabbard was unemployed for over a year. This time around, he says, there were many more open positions that offered perks like the ability to work from home.
“Having the ability to work remotely really opened things up for me because suddenly I wasn’t just limited to Indianapolis,” said Gabbard, 57. “I was able to take a job anywhere.”
According to Glassdoor’s Zhao, interest in remote positions has steadily increased among job seekers as they look for ways to improve their working conditions.
“We’re seeing more and more companies offering remote and hybrid options as they realize they need to be more flexible to actually compete for talent,” he said. “Workers are using this to use newfound leverage to negotiate terms that are beneficial to them.”
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Joshua Waight quit his job at a 99-cent store in Sonora, California, in February to stay home with his 8-month-old son. He had spent the last year earning minimum wage on the morning shift but was frustrated by the lack of available hours. With his wife starting a new job at a nearby casino, it seemed like a good time to leave the workforce.
“I felt like my career was going nowhere and I wanted to be home for my son,” said the 34-year-old. “Getting through the pandemic was difficult.”
Scott Clement contributed to this report.