2020
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Improvement in labor force participation of minority groups
February 25 | Elizabeth Crofoot, Former Senior Economist, Committee for Economic Development, The Conference Board | Frank Steemers, Former Senior Economist, The Conference Board | Comments (0)Labor shortages are becoming one of the main barriers for sustaining a healthy US economy, especially in industries that hire many blue-collar and manual service workers. Is this a passing phase or a long-lasting problem?
2019
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Employers of blue-collar workers are much more affected by labor shortages
December 04 | Gad Levanon, PhD, Former Vice President, Labor Markets, The Conference Board | Elizabeth Crofoot, Former Senior Economist, Committee for Economic Development, The Conference Board | Comments (0)It is not news that the US labor market is very tight. That is, with the unemployment rate near historic lows, employers are facing significant recruitment and retention difficulties. What is less known is that the labor market is tighter for blue-collar and manual services jobs than for the highly educated white-collar jobs. The exact opposite of prevailing trends in recent decades.
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A clue to the mystery of the slow wage growth in the US
November 19 | Gad Levanon, PhD, Former Vice President, Labor Markets, The Conference Board | Frank Steemers, Former Senior Economist, The Conference Board | Comments (1)The Conference Board Salary Increase Budget Survey, which was just released this week, provides a unique explanation for why wages have been accelerating more modestly than many analysts have expected in recent years: Employers have been slow to raise salary structures in their companies. So, while wages for new hires have been accelerating since 2011, salary increase budgets are holding back overall wage growth.
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The new Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Index is declining
October 18 | Agron Nicaj, Associate Economist, The Conference Board | Gad Levanon, PhD, Former Vice President, Labor Markets, The Conference Board | Comments (0)The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine™ (HWOL) Index has been declining for much of 2019, indicating a slowdown in employment growth. While the HWOL index is certainly weakening, it is nowhere near recession territory. The current decline is about the same as the slowdown in 2015-2016, but much smaller than that of the Great Recession.
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Overlooked on economy? Rising paychecks for blue-collar workers are shrinking the wage gap
September 18 | Gad Levanon, PhD, Former Vice President, Labor Markets, The Conference Board | Comments (0)Monthly reports on the number of new jobs and the unemployment rate can drown out important trends like these two: After four decades of worsening, wage inequality has started shrinking. And in a twist, America’s blue-collar workers are playing the biggest role in driving that reversal.
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Automation is making a comeback
May 31 | Gad Levanon, PhD, Former Vice President, Labor Markets, The Conference Board | Comments (0)Now, more than in any other time during this decade, we see signs of a comeback in automation activity. The timing could not be better. Labor shortages are becoming a growing problem for the US economy, especially in jobs that do not require a college degree, which in large part are the jobs where automation is likely to have the most impact. From a demographic perspective, this problem is only going to get worse.
