Despite The Layoffs, Economists Say It's Still A Workers' Labor Market

Getting laid off sucks. No matter when it happens. I've been there and if you're reading this and experiencing that moment yourself, you know what I mean. For the first time in recent memory, almost all of us can probably name a close friend or family member who recently either lost a job or left a job. With the media sharing new numbers of tens of thousands of layoffs every day, the message of doom can seem hard to avoid. Yet apparently the numbers tell a different story.

The message from economists is that the labor market is still in favor of workers, with millions of unfilled jobs. Due to a combination of voluntary job quits, hundreds of thousands of people who lost their lives to Covid and the "great resignation," the pressure is still on employers to fill open roles and retain the people they have. All of which probably doesn't help much if you just got laid off. But it is comforting to know that if you do need to get a new job fast for financial or emotional reasons, at least there seem to be quite a few out there.