Next Job-Market Challenge: the Great Unresignation

Reuters

15:46 JST, August 6, 2023

WASHINGTON (Reuters Breakingviews) – American workers have given up on quitting. Amid last month’s financial results from Wall Street was a warning from some firms that staff haven’t exited at the rate employers expected. The U.S. economy has weathered inflation without widespread layoffs so far, but a Great Unresignation could make seemingly healthy job numbers harder to read.

Just over a year ago, the financial services industry was one of several facing a labor crunch. Job openings in the industry hit a record 499,000 in June 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as firms’ strong demand for workers clashed with a nationwide labor shortage. That hiring spree has since cooled. The sector added 6,300 jobs last month, nearly half the gains seen in July 2022.