Fiscal Policy – Arm Wrestle?
New hires in July far exceeded expectations despite Global Recessionary Indicators.
U.S. employers added 528,000 jobs in July representing a healthy increase from the 372,000 jobs added in June, while the July unemployment rate remained stable for the fifth consecutive month dropping to 3.5%.
Canada’s economy shed 30,600 jobs in July, an improvement from the loss of 43,000 jobs in June, while the July unemployment rate remained at a record low of 4.9%.
With Leisure and Hospitality still leading the growth in New Jobs Added for the period, the U.S. Government added 57,000 in July (still below pre-pandemic levels), with Canada seeing an interesting growth in Self-Employment.
Perhaps both Push and Pull Inflationary forces are driving wages up and unemployment down. The past two years have put pressure on supply chains and the availability of factor inputs, and although GDP has recently been slowing due to Fiscal Policies the Economy is still operating at very high relative productivity levels.
Insulating employees from inflation is becoming more and more a part of the onboarding discussions at all levels of employment. We are starting to see more requests for annual salary increases/reviews as a hedge (COLA) over anticipated inflation. Employers are still faced with a Relative Scarcity for Highly-Skilled Labor and continue to offer Flexible Work Environments in addition to High Wages.
Run Fast – We are still chasing Top Talent 🙂
Sources:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Statistics Canada – Labor force survey
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