Fed Keeps Watchful Eye on Job Openings vs. Unemployed as Wage Pressures Remain
04 Oct 2023
04 Oct 2023 by Luke Puplett - Founder
According to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data for August, job openings rose to 9.6 million, up from 8.9 million in July. However, with the unemployment rate rising to 3.8% in August, up from 3.5% in July, the gap between open jobs and available workers has started to shrink.
The number of unemployed people increased to 6.355 million in August, reducing the gap between unemployed persons and job openings to 3.245 million. This is down from a gap of 3.8 million in the previous month.
The Federal Reserve monitors this gap closely as a larger gap typically leads to upward pressure on wages. A shrinking gap between job openings and unemployed indicates easing wage growth pressures.
While job openings increased in August, other metrics in the JOLTS report showed stability. Hires, separations, and quits held steady at 5.9 million, 5.7 million, and 3.6 million, respectively. The quits rate remained unchanged at 2.3%.
Layoffs also showed little movement, holding at 1.7 million in August. With quits and layoffs stable, there are no signals of significant labor market weakness emerging.
For the Fed, the focus remains on the gap between available jobs and available workers. As this gap narrows, pressure for higher wages should continue to ease. The Fed will monitor the shrinking gap and slowing wage growth as it considers changes to interest rate policy going forward.
That's lovely and everything but what is Zipwire?
Zipwire Collect simplifies document collection for a variety of needs, including KYC, KYB, and AML compliance, plus RTW and RTR. It's versatile, serving recruiters, agencies, people ops, landlords, letting agencies, accountants, solicitors, and anyone needing to efficiently gather, verify, and retain documented evidence and ID.
Zipwire Approve is tailored for recruiters, agencies, and people ops. It manages contractors' timesheets and ensures everyone gets paid. With features like WhatsApp time tracking, approval workflows, data warehousing and reporting, it cuts paperwork, not corners.
For contractors & temps, Zipwire Approve handles time journalling via WhatsApp, and techies can even use the command line. It pings your boss for approval, reducing friction and speeding up payday. Imagine just speaking what you worked on into your phone or car, and a few days later, money arrives. We've done the first part and now we're working on instant pay.
Both solutions aim to streamline workflows and ensure compliance, making work life easier for all parties involved. It's free for small teams, and you pay only for what you use.