Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 2/09/22

Highlights

Across the board, hourly jobs are up 174% over pre-pandemic norms of March 2020. Looking closer, hourly jobs remain up 6% month-over-month, and up 76% from this time last year. Google searches for hourly jobs are down 18% year-over-year.

A real eye-opener this week was the January jobs report, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that the US economy added 467,000 last month. The uptick suggests businesses are confident that the omicron variant will have only a short-term impact, and companies have returned to hiring in preparation for an improving economic picture.

The news was surprising, as many had forecasted job gains to be minimal if not in the red. 

“Employers have assumed that omicron would be painful but short, so they haven’t changed their hiring plans,” said Snagajob CEO Mathieu Stevenson in a recent AP News article. “Demand from employers is as strong as ever.” 

Other highlights from the job report include: 

• Major January job growth came in restaurants and hotels (+131,000 jobs), retail (+61,000 jobs), and shipping and warehousing (+54,000 jobs).

• Adjusted for the size of today’s workforce, the US added more jobs last year than any year since 1978.

• 3.6 million were out sick in January (many due to omicron), which was up 1.6 million from the same time last year.

• US unemployment was mostly unchanged in January, moving up slightly from 3.9% to 4.0% (but down 2.4% from this time last year).

Here’s more news on the hiring front:

As US businesses continue to add so many new jobs, the question on everyone’s mind is where are the workers? Last week’s unemployment data showed that there are 10.9 million open jobs, and a reported 6.3 million unemployed people. That’s the highest imbalance ever recorded, as typically there are more unemployed people than job openings. This helps explain why it’s so hard for businesses to find workers, as do these factors:

• The “Great Resignation” continues to impact hiring, as many workers have left the workforce and have yet to return.

• According to Goldman Sachs economists, some 2.5 million people are missing from the workforce.

• Many of these workers are quitting low-paying jobs and looking for better opportunities.

Strong hiring growth in January is more evidence that omicron’s impact on the economy is waning. US businesses appear to have confidence in the long-term future of growth and are seizing the day, hiring in force to prepare for growing demand from consumers. Companies are wary of the many variables in place which can impact the economy and are instead taking measures to help ensure they have the right staff in place today. 

Jobs

All industry data is from 3/2/20-2/08/2022

Here are the latest overall job numbers:

Overall jobs are up 174% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 6% month-over-month gain, and a 76% year-over-year growth.

Here are the latest job numbers by industry:

*Note that beginning this week and moving forward, we’ve revised the job categories reported in our weekly summary.

Food & Restaurant jobs are up 41% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 2% month-over-month gain, and a 23% year-over-year growth.

Hotel & Hospitality jobs are up 35% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 15% month-over-month decline, and a 13% year-over-year gain.

Healthcare jobs are up 125% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 9% month-over-month gain, and a 35% year-over-year growth.

Retail jobs are up 41% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 1% month-over-month decline, and a 23% year-over-year gain.

Warehouse & Production jobs are up 598% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 15% month-over-month decline, and a 237% year-over-year gain.

Workers

Google searches for hourly jobs are down 18% 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.