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Goods prices are falling. Services prices just posted their biggest monthly jump since July 2025. For managers in labor-intensive industries, the inflation story isn't over.
Private-sector unionization is at historic lows. The wage premium it commands is not.
Nominal pay looks healthy at 3.7%. Strip out inflation and add back the extra hours, and workers are running faster to stay in place.
The government shed 327,000 positions since October 2024. That workforce doesn't disappear, it floods into private labor markets, and your hiring strategy probably hasn't adjusted for it.
Overall prices are moving closer to the Fed's target, but shelter costs, which directly affect compensation decisions, remain elevated at 3.0% annually.
Every sector is hunting for AI talent, but the jobs might not exist by the time candidates apply.
Workers are producing more. Their purchasing power isn't keeping pace.
Engagement hit record lows in 2024, and younger workers are checking out faster than anyone else.
The quits rate has been frozen at 2.0% for over a year. Workers aren't leaving because they have nowhere better to go.
Long-term unemployment is rising and it's changing who's available when you're hiring.
