A new report casts the U.S. labor shortage in even starker relief, as employers increasingly struggle to find qualified employees, despite the record 6.7 million job openings.
Private payrolls were below previous market expectations in June 2018, growing by 177,000, according to ADP and Moody's Analytics' report. This was the fourth consecutive month recorded where payrolls fell short of 200,000. Inflation measures are currently at 2 percent or more, and are expected to rise. CNBC reports that companies, despite record profits, are caught in a "double-short of inflation, both from wages and rising costs due to escalating trade tensions and tariffs between the U.S. and its trading partners." Says Gluskin Sheff chief economist David Rosenberg, "Inflation pressures will intensify and the Fed will be forced to act more aggressively ... There is no Presidential Tweet that will stop Mother Nature from taking its course."
Truck drivers are in perilously low supply, Silicon Valley continues to struggle to fill vacancies, and employers across the grid are coping with a skills mismatch as the economy edges ever closer to full employment. “Business’ number one problem is finding qualified workers. At the current pace of job growth, if sustained, this problem is set to get much worse,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in a statement. “These labor shortages will only intensify across all industries and company sizes.”
