The U.S. labor market has found its footing after a year of whipsawing between job gains and losses, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics data analyzed by Axios. The pattern is finally breaking, indicating stabilization is taking hold. This steadiness arrives despite a wall of headwinds, including an energy shock stemming from the Iran war.
The resilience has surprised economists, as the damage that was expected to ripple through hiring has not yet materialized. However, this is not the robust hiring environment of 2022 — it is something steadier and possibly more fragile. Warning signs lurk in the underlying data, suggesting the calm may be delicate.