Unemployment Drops to Its Lowest Level Since the 1960s
October 5, 2018 | PRNewswireEstimated reading time: 1 minute
The headline of today's employment report is the drop in the unemployment rate to 3.7%, the lowest rate since December 1969. For close to two-thirds of the US population, this is the lowest unemployment rate in their lifetime.
The tightening of the labor market is leading to a more visible acceleration in wages. In the past four quarters, average hourly earnings increased by 2.8% and accelerated to 3.1% in the past two quarters. The acceleration in wages is especially visible among blue collar occupations, where it is essentially back to pre-recession rates.
The US economy is growing rapidly now, and we expect this trend to continue in the coming quarters, meaning that the demand for workers should not slow down. In the past 12 months, the US economy added over 2.5 million jobs. Will an economy at a 3.7 unemployment rate be able to add that many jobs in the next 12 months? That will be challenging. We expect employers to more rapidly do what they have been doing in recent quarters: automate, increase working hours and pull people back to the labor force, especially young men, whose labor force participation rate barely recovered yet. At the same time, the labor market will continue to get tighter with the unemployment rate reaching 3.5% or even lower in 2019, accompanied by rising inflation pressures.
Suggested Items
KIC’s Miles Moreau to Present Profiling Basics and Best Practices at SMTA Wisconsin Chapter PCBA Profile Workshop
01/25/2024 | KICKIC, a renowned pioneer in thermal process and temperature measurement solutions for electronics manufacturing, announces that Miles Moreau, General Manager, will be a featured speaker at the SMTA Wisconsin Chapter In-Person PCBA Profile Workshop.
The Drive Toward UHDI and Substrates
09/20/2023 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamPanasonic’s Darren Hitchcock spoke with the I-Connect007 Editorial Team on the complexities of moving toward ultra HDI manufacturing. As we learn in this conversation, the number of shifting constraints relative to traditional PCB fabrication is quite large and can sometimes conflict with each other.
Standard Of Excellence: The Products of the Future
09/19/2023 | Anaya Vardya -- Column: Standard of ExcellenceIn my last column, I discussed cutting-edge innovations in printed circuit board technology, focusing on innovative trends in ultra HDI, embedded passives and components, green PCBs, and advanced substrate materials. This month, I’m following up with the products these new PCB technologies are destined for. Why do we need all these new technologies?
Experience ViTrox's State-of-the-Art Offerings at SMTA Guadalajara 2023 Presented by Sales Channel Partner—SMTo Engineering
09/18/2023 | ViTroxViTrox, which aims to be the world’s most trusted technology company, is excited to announce that our trusted Sales Channel Partner (SCP) in Mexico, SMTo Engineering, S.A. de C.V., will be participating in SMTA Guadalajara Expo & Tech Forum. They will be exhibiting in Booth #911 from the 25th to the 26th of October 2023, at the Expo Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico.
Intel Unveils Industry-Leading Glass Substrates to Meet Demand for More Powerful Compute
09/18/2023 | IntelIntel announced one of the industry’s first glass substrates for next-generation advanced packaging, planned for the latter part of this decade.