New from NCCI: Feb 2024 Labor Market Insights Dashboard

NCCI released the February 2024 - Labor Market Insights report.

Key Insights:

1. (1) As we suggested in last month’s Labor Market Insights, January saw much better than expected employment growth, with fewer seasonal layoffs likely playing a role.
2. (2) In the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ benchmark revisions for 2023, employment gains increased from 225,000 jobs per month to 255,000, and employment grew more broadly at the industry level than initial estimates suggested.
3. (3) Along with upward revisions to employment, the benchmark revisions also increased average hourly earnings growth in 2023.
4. (4) Despite strong employment and wage growth in January 2024, payroll growth slowed materially. A decline in average hours worked per week and a large base effect from January 2023 contributed. Average weekly earnings grew at a pace of just 3.0% from the previous January, while average hourly earnings grew at a rate of 4.5%.
5. (5) Poor weather conditions across most of the country in January could have impacted this result, so we will be closely watching hours worked in next month’s data release.
6. (6) At the end of 2023, hiring and quitting rates slowed, which could indicate that workers had less confidence in the strength of the labor market. However, that same slowing of turnover reduces the share of low-tenured workers in jobs, which can contribute to declines in workers' compensation frequency.

Access the full report and check back monthly for the latest insights into how the labor market continues to evolve.

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