The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data recently released the July 2023 SCE Labor Market Survey, which indicates a decrease in the share of job seekers compared to last year, improved satisfaction with wage compensation and nonwage benefits, alongside increased anticipated likelihood of future unemployment.
According to an Aug. 21 news release, contentment with wage compensation, nonwage benefits and opportunities for advancement in current jobs exhibited improvement. In terms of prospects, the mean anticipated probability of securing a job offer within the next four months declined, while the average expected likelihood of experiencing joblessness in the same timeframe escalated compared to one year ago.
Additionally, the average anticipated wage offer, given receipt of an offer and the average reservation wage, representing the minimum wage deemed acceptable for a new job, both underwent a year-over-year increase, reaching new peaks, the release reported.
Experiences among those who were employed four months ago, 91.4% remained employed, slightly decreasing from 91.8% in July 2022. Meanwhile, the transition rate to a different employer surged from 4.1% in July 2022 to 5.3%. This rise was primarily influenced by male respondents and those above the age of 45, according to the release.
The portion of individuals reporting job searches within the past four weeks dropped from 24.7% in July 2022 to 19.4%. This decline was most pronounced among respondents under the age of 45, those without a college degree and individuals with annual household incomes below $60,000, the release said.
In the last four months, 19.5% of individuals received at least one job offer, a decrease from 21.1% in July 2022. Conversely, the average full-time offer wage witnessed a substantial increase, rising from $60,764 in July 2022 to $69,475, the release reported.
Satisfaction levels with wage compensation, nonwage benefits and opportunities for promotion at respondents' present jobs all demonstrated improvements, rising by 3, 1.7, and 4 percentage points, respectively, since July 2022, reaching 59.9%, 64.9%, and 53.5%. This enhancement was particularly notable among respondents with annual household incomes below $60,000, according to the release.
