The US Labor Market Faces Possible Slowdown in 2024
By CNN
The economic outlook in the United States in recent years has been characterized by a very strong labor market. But new data on online job postings points to a possible slowdown. Total job postings on the online job site Indeed fell more than 15% compared to the start of 2023, according to data shared as of January 5 with CNN by Nick Bunker, Indeed’s director of economic research for North America. Bunker said new job postings, or those that have been on Indeed for 7 days or less, were down 13.5% year over year.
LinkedIn, which aggregates hiring data for its more than 206 million users in the US, also recorded a decline in hiring between the end of 2022 and the end of 2023.
The glut of job openings in recent years has made it easier for Americans to jump from job to job, getting better pay and perks like remote work in the process. However, with the start of a new year, a new era for job searching may be beginning, and employees’ advantage in demanding remote work may be fading.
According to Indeed, traditional white-collar office jobs have reduced their online recruiting efforts the most. “Job offers in software development fell 44.6% compared to a year ago, while job offers in banking and finance fell 31.3%,” explains Bunker. Intensified competition for jobs as the pace of hiring stabilizes is also expected.
As competition increases and job openings dwindle, companies are less willing to offer a perk that has become a defining feature of the post-pandemic work world: remote work. Much of the relative strength in hiring in 2023 came from in-person jobs, such as food preparation and service and retail, according to Indeed data. At their peak in April 2022, remote job postings accounted for 20% of all jobs posted on LinkedIn, but the proportion of job postings that allow employees to work from home has fallen sharply.
Private sector data reflects federal government figures. Job offers in the US fell in November to their lowest level since March 2021, according to the latest Job Offers and Labor Turnover Survey, and although the national unemployment rate has been at 4% or below, the labor market could be facing a turning point. Wells Fargo economists also highlighted signs pointing to a weakening job outlook, such as shrinking wage gains and rising unemployment.
Despite the overall strength of the labor market, high-profile companies have announced layoffs at the start of the new year. Tech giants Google and Amazon said they plan to lay off hundreds of employees, and Citigroup announced it would lay off 20,000 employees over the next two years.