Research
Friday’s Jobs Report: A Tale of Two Industries
Andrew Chamberlain
Andrew Chamberlain, Author at Glassdoor US | May 29, 2018
Last month the economy delivered more good news for job seekers, with unemployment hitting the lowest level since 2000 and employers adding a healthy 164,000 new jobs in April. What’s coming next for the May jobs report? Here’s what we’ll be watching for this Friday:
What’s behind the strong manufacturing hiring today? One possible driver is the recent $1.5 trillion federal tax cut, which went into effect in January. As we’ve noted before, manufacturers stand to benefit handsomely from the bill. The new tax policy was designed to give a powerful jolt to business investment by allowing companies to fully expense or “write off” the full cost of new business investment right away. Capital-intensive industries like manufacturing, energy and transportation may be already feeling the benefits of these provisions and ramping up hiring in anticipation of good economic times ahead.
How long will these good times last for hiring? As of today, there is no end in sight in any of the major economic indicators. The forward-looking survey of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan remains strong and is up 1.8 percent from a year ago. Job openings set a new all-time record of 6.6 million in March. And although stocks have stumbled recently, the S&P 500 index is still up 12.9 percent from a year ago at the time of this writing. For now, 2018 is shaping up to be another year of steady upward progress for American job seekers.
To speak with Dr. Andrew Chamberlain about this month’s jobs report or labor market trends, contact pr [at] glassdoor [dot] com. For the latest economics and labor market updates, subscribe to email alerts here and follow @adchamberlain.
- +182,000 new jobs added to nonfarm payrolls in May;
- Unemployment rate steady at 3.9 percent;
- Average hourly earnings up 2.8 percent from one year ago;
- Labor force participation rate steady at 62.8 percent.
What’s behind the strong manufacturing hiring today? One possible driver is the recent $1.5 trillion federal tax cut, which went into effect in January. As we’ve noted before, manufacturers stand to benefit handsomely from the bill. The new tax policy was designed to give a powerful jolt to business investment by allowing companies to fully expense or “write off” the full cost of new business investment right away. Capital-intensive industries like manufacturing, energy and transportation may be already feeling the benefits of these provisions and ramping up hiring in anticipation of good economic times ahead.
How long will these good times last for hiring? As of today, there is no end in sight in any of the major economic indicators. The forward-looking survey of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan remains strong and is up 1.8 percent from a year ago. Job openings set a new all-time record of 6.6 million in March. And although stocks have stumbled recently, the S&P 500 index is still up 12.9 percent from a year ago at the time of this writing. For now, 2018 is shaping up to be another year of steady upward progress for American job seekers.
To speak with Dr. Andrew Chamberlain about this month’s jobs report or labor market trends, contact pr [at] glassdoor [dot] com. For the latest economics and labor market updates, subscribe to email alerts here and follow @adchamberlain. Andrew Chamberlain
Tags:Labor MarketUnemployment
