Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 11/9/21

How COVID-19 is affecting hourly work

Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 11/9/21

Highlights

Overall jobs are up 31% compared to pre-pandemic norms, with a 26% month over month decline and 14% year over year growth. Google searches for hourly jobs are up 5% year over year. 

The economy added 531,000 new jobs in October, the biggest gain in three months, the Labor Department reported Friday. Restaurants and factories were among the top industries that boosted hiring. Additionally, the unemployment rate continued to fall, ending the month at 4.6%. 

About 180,000 women aged 16 and older joined the labor force in October, a demographic that was disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  There is still a ways to go, but this is positive momentum that boosts hope that hourly workers on the sidelines will continue to rejoin the labor market—particularly as childcare facilities reopen, children become vaccinated and cases of COVID-19 fall.

In more good news, the number of workers applying for first-time unemployment benefits—a rough proxy for layoffs across the U.S.—fell by 14,000 last week to 269,000, a new pandemic low— down from more than 800,000 per week at the beginning of 2021.

The holiday season is here, with many retailers already offering Black Friday sales in an effort to attract shoppers earlier in the season.  The National Retail Federation expects retailers alone will hire between 500,000 and 650,000 seasonal workers this year, up from the 480,000 hired last year. Our Holiday Hiring 2021: A Quick Start Guide is a good resource for hourly employers and workers looking to prepare for the upcoming season. 

Jobs

All industry data is from 3/2/20-11/8/21

Here are the latest job numbers by industry:

Quick service restaurant (QSR) jobs are down 26% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 2% month over month decline and 2% year over year growth.

Sit-down restaurant jobs are down 39% compared to pre-pandemic norms, flat month over month growth and 9% year over year growth.

Warehouse and logistics jobs are up 469% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 110% month over month growth and 95% year over year growth.

Retail jobs are up 25% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing an 23% month over month decline and 41% year over year growth.

Grocery jobs are up 74% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 6% month over month growth and 5% year over year growth.

Hospitality jobs are up 288% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 1% month over month growth and 267% year over year growth.

On demand jobs are up 46% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 71% month over month decline and a 29% year over year decline.

Convenience store jobs are down 7% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 14% month over month growth and 9% year over year growth.

Healthcare jobs are up 78% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 22% month over month decline and 49% year over year growth.

Workers

Google searches for hourly jobs are up 5% year over year.

The bottom line

We’ll continue to be your best resource for hourly job market insights as we collectively navigate towards our new normal and beyond.