US labor markets: Some signs of normalization
The US labor market is showing signs of normalizing, from historically tight levels. This is visible across several important data points published last week: average weekly hours, initial jobless claims, average hourly earnings. Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers increased by 172k to 1.6 million in March, especially in the wholesale, storage and retail trade sectors. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 236k in March, less than the average monthly gain of 334k over the prior six months. Average hourly earnings growth has been singled out by Fed Chair Powell in several press conferences, as a metric to assess the strength of wage growth, and, on a 3-month...