The story of the U.S. economy ever since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the resilience of the job market.
After cratering amid lockdowns and government-mandated shutdowns, job openings across the economy – from services, to manufacturing, and more – bounced back strongly, peaking in Q1 2022. For a while, there were more job openings available than workers to fill them.
Since then, however, things haven’t looked so great.
For the last two years, the job market has been declining steadily, as employers look to cut costs and job hunters are left with fewer options. If this cooling continues, it could have broader implications for economic growth and consumer confidence as out-of-work Americans pull back on spending.
Falling job openings could signal a contraction in overall economic activity that might lead to greater pullbacks across the economy, further hurting the consumer.
At Anchor Capital, we always keep an eye on economic indicators or market events that could potentially increase or decrease market volatility and market risk.
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