With 213,000 net new jobs added in June, the labor market’s expansion now totals 92 consecutive month, placing it among the longest periods of post-war expansion.
Remarkably, gains have been found largely across industries, although retail trade posted contraction of 21,600 jobs after showing signs of recovery earlier in the year.
A slight boost to the participation rate pushed unemployment up 20 basis points to 4.0 percent, however.
2. June 2018 U.S. labor market at a glance
2
+213,000
(92 consecutive months of growth)
1-month net change
+2,374,000
(+1.6% y-o-y)
12-month change
+962,000
10-year average annual growth
4.0%
Unemployment rate
6,698,000
(+9.7% y-o-y)
Job openings
-30bp
12-month change in unemployment
62.9%
Labor force participation rate
5,578,000
(+6.8% y-o-y)
Hires
3,351,000
(+9.1% y-o-y)
Quits
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
3. The expansion has now reached 92 months of growth
With 213,000 net new jobs added in June, the labor market’s expansion now totals 92 consecutive month, placing it among the longest periods of post-war
expansion. Remarkably, gains have been found largely across industries, although retail trade posted contraction of 21,600 jobs after showing signs of recovery
earlier in the year. A slight boost to the participation rate pushed unemployment up 20 basis points to 4.0 percent, however.
Labor force expansion can’t keep up with demand
Job openings jumped closer to 6.7 million in June, resulting in an annual spike of 9.7 percent (6.1x faster than the rate of job creation), indicative of employers
being unable to find the talent they need. Job openings rates, particularly in knowledge-intensive industries, are also now routinely exceeding 5.0 percent.
Worker confidence is also continuing to rise: hires rose by 9.1 percent to 3.4 million.
Inflation is eating away at wage growth
Even with a significant shortage of talent in almost all metro areas, wage growth isn’t budging at 2.7 percent. Until recently, lower inflation as a result of
stagnant energy prices helped to keep disposable income rising, but is now at 2.8 percent and likely to see some degree of further growth, leading to flattening
wages in real terms. Wage growth continues to trend divergently between office-using and non-office-using sectors, with the gap between the two now at 100
basis points.
June 2018 U.S. labor market highlights
3Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
7. 3.1%
3.3%
3.4%
3.6%
3.9%
4.3%
5.1%
5.5%
5.7%
6.0%
0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7%
Construction
Financial activities
Manufacturing
Mining and logging
Other services
Trade, transportation and utilities
Education and health
Leisure and hospitality
Professional and business services
Information
Job openings rate (%)
Job openings rates are rising sharply in service-based
and knowledge-intensive sectors
7Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
9. -3%
-2%
-1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
12-month%change
Wage growth Inflation
Inflation at 2.8% is now overtaking flat wage growth,
despite a shortage of workers
9Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
10. 1.7%
2.0%
2.1%
2.6%
2.7%
2.9%
2.9%
3.1%
3.4%
4.6%
0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0%
Manufacturing
Mining and logging
Trade, transportation and utilities
Other services
Professional and business services
Education and health
Construction
Information
Leisure and hospitality
Financial activities
12-month wage growth (%)
Non-office-using industries continue to pull down
overall wage growth; gap remains large at 100bp
10Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
+3.5%
Office-using
wage growth
+2.5%
Non-office-using
wage growth
11. -8%
-6%
-4%
-2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
ChangesinceJanuary2007(%)
Civilian labor force Employed
Since 2017, employment growth has exceeded the labor
force, which will accelerate unemployment declines
11Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment growth
above
labor force growth
Employment growth
below
labor force growth
12. 62%
63%
64%
65%
66%
67%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Laborforceparticipationrate(%)The labor force participation rate rose to 62.9% in June,
partially responsible for a slight rise in unemployment
12Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
13. -21.6
-0.3
0.0
2.9
4.0
8.0
11.0
13.0
15.4
16.0
25.0
36.0
50.0
54.0
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Retail trade
Utilities
Information
Wholesale trade
Mining and logging
Financial activities
Government
Construction
Transportation and warehousing
Other services
Leisure and hospitality
Manufacturing
Professional and business services
Education and health
1-month net change (thousands)
Manufacturing posted a strong 36,000-job gain in June,
with education, health and PBS remaining leaders
13Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
14. -28.0
-1.0
17.0
57.0
62.8
82.9
99.0
127.0
164.2
261.0
282.0
285.0
445.0
521.0
-100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Information
Utilities
Government
Mining and logging
Wholesale trade
Retail trade
Other services
Financial activities
Transportation and warehousing
Leisure and hospitality
Construction
Manufacturing
Education and health
Professional and business services
12-month net change (thousands)
Construction has risen to become the third-largest
contributor to annual job growth
14Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
521.0
445.0
261.0
285.0
127.0
735.0
PBS Education and health
Leisure and hospitality Manufacturing
Financial activities Retail trade
All other jobs
Core subsectors added 69.0 percent of all
jobs over the past 12 months.
15. -3%
-2%
-1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
12-monthnetchangeAlthough retail trade contracted by 21,600 jobs in June,
annual growth remains positive
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics 15
17. -300
-250
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
200
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
1-monthnetchange(thousands)
Professional and business services Financial activities Information
Office-using job creation has stabilized, with PBS
consistently adding 40,000-50,000 jobs per month
17Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
18. -10%
-8%
-6%
-4%
-2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
12-month%change
Tech Energy, mining and utilities Office-using Total non-farm
Across sectors, annual growth levels are unchanged
apart from energy, which is continuing its rebound
18Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics