RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK — Numbers could be pointing to a “soft landing” for the economy, says Dr. Camelia Kuhnen, Director of Research at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, after the release of the October employment data. And that could be good for people looking at job opportunities.
“When I look at the number that we see in today’s report, 150,000 increase, I think this is actually good news in terms of us being able to go towards a soft landing,” Kuhnen said during a webinar hosted by the Kenan Institute Friday morning.
The US labor market added 150,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.9 percent, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Looking for a new role? All the companies in TechWire’s ‘Top 50’ are hiring
Kuhnen pointed to signs that the labor market is stabilizing.
“The layoffs are at a nine-month low, but also the rate of quits has stabilized, so people are not job hopping as much as they were, let’s say, half a year ago,” said Kuhnen. “This means that people stay with their current jobs, and the labor market is not as frothy as it was, it’s not as tight as it was.”
She also pointed to the number of job openings per Unemployed Worker.
From the “Growth, the Job Market and U.S. Consumers” webinar by Kenan Institute
“This number, back about a year ago, was two, so there were two job openings per Unemployed Worker,” said Kuhnen. “Right now, that number is about 1.5. So this means that, again, the labor market is not quite as tight as it used to be. And this again, if you’re the Fed, this was probably a good thing. You’re now less concerned about wages spiraling out of control, which would mean inflation would spiral out of control.”
Looking at the Job Trends—Numbers from the Nov. 6 jobs report
The exclusive WRAL TechWire Jobs Report aggregates data from 20 location-based job board searches. Job openings in the Triangle jumped up this week, showing a total of 230,371 active listings (not accounting for post duplications), a 6.7% increase from last week.
Here’s a closer look at the trend:
OTHER RESOURCES TO FIND TRIANGLE JOB POSTINGS
Below, we’ve gathered the latest upcoming job fairs, student-centric resources, and a list of Twitter accounts that track local job openings. If you’re a student looking for an internship or entry-level position at a local company or organization, your university has resources to help you get started. Quick links below:
- Duke University: Career Hub
- Durham Technical Community College: College Central Network
- NC Central University: Career and Professional Development Center
- NC State University: Centennial Campus Job Board, Career Development Center and Jobs at NCSU
- UNC Chapel Hill: University Career Services and Careers at Carolina
- Wake Technical Community College: College Central Network and Career and Employment Resources
For Johnston County job seekers: The recently launched JoCo Careers website helps job seekers find companies hiring in Johnston County. (More TechWire coverage here.)
LOOK FOR TRIANGLE JOB POSTINGS ON THESE TWITTER ACCOUNTS
Here are some locally run Twitter accounts that regularly share job openings in the Triangle:
