By Jasmine Browley ·Updated July 11, 2022
We’ve gone from the Great Resignation to what feels like the Great Recession in less than three years.
The latest jobs report, released on Friday, depicts a tale of two situations: a growing labor market and crushing interest rates.
372,000 jobs were added in June, which signals strong economic growth despite early predictions that positions would be wiped out as we enter the third quarter.
The report showed that the unemployment rate held steady at 3.6% since, which is only slightly above its pre-pandemic mark, making it a 50-year low.
“Today’s report just reiterates that the labor market is a bright spot in the recovery,” said Daniel Zhao in a statement to Vox, a senior economist at the career site Glassdoor. “Even though we have heard recession fears and other concerns, the labor market continues to plow forward.”
But despite these hopeful job rates, the recession fear is still nigh and high. The Federal Reserve are significantly raising interest rates to quell consumer demand and turnaround high inflation. In response, business owners are expected to respond rising costs by decreasing production and laying off their workers, thus creating the perfect storm for a recession to hit.
“Overall, the jobs data support our view that talk of the economy being in recession right now is fanciful, while the wages numbers suggest inflation pressure is easing,” Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a statement reported by Vox.
Although the labor market is still an economic bright spot, there are some industries that are still dark. Travel, hospitality and child care is still down about 1.3 million jobs compared to 2020.
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