After more than 80 consecutive months of growth, the U.S. labor market saw its first contraction, losing 33,000 jobs in net terms, largely a result of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The overwhelming majority of losses were concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sector, particularly in Florida (Puerto Rico is not counted in monthly figures), further exacerbating this contraction.
2. Setpember 2017 U.S. labor market at a glance
2
-33,000
1-month net change
+1,777,000
(+1.2% y-o-y)
12-month change
+823,000
10-year average annual growth
4.2%
Unemployment rate
6,170,000
(+3.3% y-o-y)
Job openings
-70bp
12-month change in unemployment
63.1%
Labor force participation rate
5,501,000
(+3.2% y-o-y)
Hires
3,164,000
(4.4% y-o-y)
Quits
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
3. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma resulted in a contraction in employment in September
After more than 80 consecutive months of growth, the U.S. labor market saw its first contraction, losing 33,000 jobs in net terms, largely a result of Hurricanes
Harvey and Irma. The overwhelming majority of losses were concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sector, particularly in Florida (Puerto Rico is not
counted in monthly figures), further exacerbating this contraction. Other industries were also affected to varying degrees, but largely remained in positive
territory due to sustained growth in markets around the country. On an annual basis, employment growth slowed to slightly under 1.8 million jobs, far lower
than the roughly 2.3 million seen in previous months.
Despite monthly contraction, fundamentals remain solid
Although September recorded contraction, underlying metrics remain solid. Headline unemployment dropped to a new cyclical low of 4.2 percent, while total
unemployment has returned to pre-recession levels at 8.3 percent. Similarly, job openings broke a record high for a second consecutive month (now at 6.2
million), a 4.4-percent annual rise in quits indicates strong worker confidence in the job market and consumer confidence has been sustained. Wage growth also
demonstrated positive momentum, reaching 2.9 percent even as inflation approached the 2.0-percent threshold.
Fastest growing markets are cooling due to talent shortages
Although talent shortages have been a common theme over the past year, particularly in tech, they have become noticeably more acute even in some of the
fastest-growing metro areas in recent months. Primary, secondary and tertiary markets that repeatedly reached 4.0-percent growth in 2016 and early 2017 have
now slowed to 2.8-3.5 percent and are largely dependent on further inbound migration of workers to maintain gains.
September 2017 U.S. labor market highlights
3Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
7. 3.0%
3.2%
3.8%
4.0%
4.0%
4.0%
4.8%
5.1%
5.1%
5.4%
0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6%
Manufacturing
Construction
Trade, transportation and utilities
Information
Mining and logging
Financial activities
Education and health
Leisure and hospitality
Professional and business services
Other services
Job openings rate (%)
Job openings rates continue to rise, surpassing 5% for
PBS and leisure, with most now above 4%
7Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
8. -3%
-2%
-1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
12-month%change
Wage growth Inflation
Wage growth rose by 40bp to 2.9 percent in September,
countering increases in inflation
8Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
9. 1.4%
1.5%
2.2%
2.2%
2.7%
3.0%
3.2%
3.3%
3.6%
5.2%
0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0%
Mining and logging
Manufacturing
Education and health
Trade, transportation and utilities
Financial activities
Construction
Other services
Professional and business services
Leisure and hospitality
Information
12-month wage growth (%)
Weak gains in goods-producing sectors is keeping
wage growth muted
9Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
10. 62%
63%
63%
64%
64%
65%
65%
66%
66%
67%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Laborforceparticipationrate(%)The labor force participation rate reached 63.1 percent
in September, its highest figure in three years
10Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
11. 57%
58%
59%
60%
61%
62%
63%
64%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Employment-to-populationratio(%)Despite talent shortages, the employment-to-population
ratio indicates a degree of underemployment
11Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
12. -111.0
-9.0
-5.0
-5.0
-3.2
-2.9
-1.0
0.0
2.0
4.0
5.9
6.7
7.0
8.0
10.0
13.0
13.1
21.8
27.0
-120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
Leisure and hospitality
Information
Nondurable goods
Other services
Motor vehicles and parts
Retail trade
Manufacturing
Utilities
Mining and logging
Durable goods
Temporary help services
Wholesale trade
Government
Construction
Financial activities
Professional and business services
Health care and social assistance
Transportation and warehousing
Education and health services
1-month net change (thousands)
September 111,000 leisure job losses, largely due to
hurricanes hitting Florida and Texas
12Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
13. -3%
-2%
-1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
12-monthnetchangeRetail trade’s woes continue, with losses now totaling
0.5 percent over the year
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics 13
14. -67.0
-31.2
-2.8
8.0
22.2
38.0
58.0
68.2
73.8
88.0
100.0
126.2
138.0
149.0
214.0
323.0
400.9
476.0
528.0
-100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Information
Retail trade
Utilities
Government
Motor vehicles and parts
Nondurable goods
Mining and logging
Wholesale trade
Transportation and warehousing
Other services
Durable goods
Temporary help services
Manufacturing
Financial activities
Construction
Leisure and hospitality
Health care and social assistance
Education and health services
Professional and business services
12-month net change (thousands)
September significantly slowed growth in many
sectors, leaving annual gains more concentrated
14Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
582.0
476.0
323.0
149.0
138.0
109.0
PBS Education and health
Leisure and hospitality Financial activities
Manufacturing Retail trade
All other jobs
Core subsectors added 93.9 percent of all
jobs over the past 12 months.
16. -300
-250
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
200
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
1-monthnetchange(thousands)
Professional and business services Financial activities Information
Office-using growth dropped off in September as
monthly PBS gains more than halved
16Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
17. -10%
-8%
-6%
-4%
-2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
12-month%change
Tech Energy, mining and utilities Office-using Total non-farm
Tech has begun to flatline at 3.5 percent growth,
although the broader economy is also slowing
17Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
20. Southeastern markets shown no sign of letting up on
job growth in annual terms
20
2.6%
2.7%
2.8%
3.0%
3.1%
3.2%
3.3%
3.5%
2.5% 3.0% 3.5% 4.0%
Charlotte
Seattle
Dallas
Nashville
Tampa
Atlanta
Orlando
Raleigh-Durham
12-month % change
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics – data from August; does not take into account effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma