Is it hot in here, or is it just the new jobs numbers?

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2023

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The U.S. economy is red hot, adding 517,000 jobs in January. Unemployment is at its lowest rate in more than 50 years. So why are there so many jobs when there's talk about a possible recession?

One idea that's been talked about is labor hoarding, where employers hold onto more staff than they need. That's because the costs of rehiring are so high.

We find that the answer is more complex — and maybe a little more optimistic as well.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:12.3	Once again, the US economy has been pumping with jobs.
0:18.1	This jobs Friday we learnt 517,000 jobs were added to the US economy in January.
0:24.0	That was much, much higher than expected.
0:26.4	The unemployment rate fell a little to 3.4%, that is the lowest it's been in over 50
0:32.1	years.
0:33.1	The great beating heart of the American jobs market is not slowing down.
0:38.0	Which is got us wondering yet again, what's up with that?
0:41.1	Yeah, it interest rates shut up over the last year, that made it harder to borrow.
0:45.0	This stock market sunk.
0:46.6	A lot of people have been talking about an impending recession, so all of this should make
0:51.2	jobs more scarce.
0:53.6	And potential explanation we've heard for all this is labour hoarding.
0:58.3	That is this idea that employers might be holding on to staff even when business is down
1:03.3	because they know how hard it'll be to hire them again when demand picks back up.
1:07.8	And what we discovered from talking to a labour economist and a business owner was a little
1:12.6	bit more complex than that, but also perhaps more hopeful.
1:17.3	This is the integrated from planet money, I'm Darian Woods.
1:20.2	And I'm Adrienne Ma, today on the show, labour hoarding and the booming jobs market.
1:29.6	To better understand how employers are feeling about their staffing in these uncertain economic
1:34.0	times.
1:35.0	I like.
	...

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