Employment & Labor Insider

For joy. I am not being sarcastic. Even though they are sometimes a necessary evil, nobody likes layoffs or reductions in force.

Well, happy days may be here again. Happier, anyway.

First, we have in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that manufacturing layoffs have dropped from 9.9 percent of all layoffs to 6.6 percent. (A paid subscription is required to access the full article.) And manufacturers have stated reluctance to let employees go because they are getting to be too hard to replace. From the article:

A shortage of workers has caused some smaller manufacturers to turn down work, said Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers trade group. Overall, leaner operations have helped eliminate the need to frequently lay off workers, he said.

“We’re growing rapidly and hiring is robust,” Mr. Moutray said. “Finding qualified workers is the No. 1 issue our members complain about.”

As problems go, that's a good one to have.

And a lot of employees are quitting their jobs, which is too bad for their employers, but a great sign for the labor market. When the economy is weak, employees are afraid to rock the boat. When things get stronger, employees feel more free to take risks. 

Finally, it appears that many employees who had given up on trying to find jobs are back looking.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, during the 12-month period that ended in May 2018, there was a net employment gain of 2.5 million.

Very nice! Let's hope it continues.