That comes amid signs of labor market strength overall: Unemployment is historically low, for example.to their existing workforce, meaning employees are unlikely to lose their jobs, economists said. But it also may be hard for jobseekers to land a new gig as employers pull back on hiring, economists said."The labor market is currently characterized by a lack of churn: soft hiring and low layoffs," they said.
Many businesses were scarred by their recent experience of holding onto workers amid fierce labor competition and have reacted by "labor hoarding," said Cory Stahle, an economist at the job site Indeed.The labor market has also gradually cooled. Meanwhile, job growth in white-collar fields like software development, marketing, and media and communications "has been very, very slow," he said. "Right now your experience with the labor market will depend on the type of job you're doing," he said.