The United States labor market recently concluded a year with one of the highest 12-month job totals in the past decade, despite widespread expectations of an impending recession.
With the addition of an unanticipatedly robust December report, the labor market in the United States gained nearly 2.7 million jobs in 2023.
With the exception of disproportionate gains attributable to the resumption of hiring and dismissing during the pandemic era in 2021 and 2022, employment growth in the most recent year was the strongest since 2015 and the third highest since 2000.
EY chief economist Greg Daco told Yahoo Finance, “The primary reason economic activity exceeded expectations in the United States and, in fact, globally, was because labor market resilience was a defining characteristic of the economic environment.” “Businesses, business executives, were keenly focused on ensuring that they had the right talent to navigate this very unusual period of impact.”
