![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
13-12-2022, 11:22 AM
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
yesterday
WASHINGTON (AP) — Still eager to hire, America’s employers are posting more job openings than they did before the pandemic struck 2½ years ago. Problem is, there aren’t enough applicants. The nation’s labor force is smaller than when the pandemic struck.
......
In a recent speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed to the shortfall of workers and the resulting rise in average pay as the primary remaining driver of the price spikes that continue to grip the economy.
......
costs are still rising fast in much of the economy’s vast service sector. As a result, the Fed is expected Wednesday to raise its benchmark short-term rate for a seventh time this year, though by a smaller amount than it has recently.
......
productivity has been especially weak in the past year.
......
Powell has noted that higher pay will likely feed too-high inflation in the service sector — everything from restaurants and hotels to retail stores, medical care and entertainment. The employers in these industries are labor-intensive, and they tend to pass their higher labor costs on to their customers through higher prices.
Higher wages also typically spur Americans to keep spending, a trend that can perpetuate a cycle that keeps prices high.
......
The leading cause of the worker shortfall ...... is a surge in retirements
......
Of the 3.5 million, about 2 million consist of “excess” retirements
......
Roughly 400,000 other working-age people have died of COVID-19. And legal immigration has fallen by about 1 million.
https://apnews.com/article/inflation-bus...89d18a51e7
yesterday
WASHINGTON (AP) — Still eager to hire, America’s employers are posting more job openings than they did before the pandemic struck 2½ years ago. Problem is, there aren’t enough applicants. The nation’s labor force is smaller than when the pandemic struck.
......
In a recent speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed to the shortfall of workers and the resulting rise in average pay as the primary remaining driver of the price spikes that continue to grip the economy.
......
costs are still rising fast in much of the economy’s vast service sector. As a result, the Fed is expected Wednesday to raise its benchmark short-term rate for a seventh time this year, though by a smaller amount than it has recently.
......
productivity has been especially weak in the past year.
......
Powell has noted that higher pay will likely feed too-high inflation in the service sector — everything from restaurants and hotels to retail stores, medical care and entertainment. The employers in these industries are labor-intensive, and they tend to pass their higher labor costs on to their customers through higher prices.
Higher wages also typically spur Americans to keep spending, a trend that can perpetuate a cycle that keeps prices high.
......
The leading cause of the worker shortfall ...... is a surge in retirements
......
Of the 3.5 million, about 2 million consist of “excess” retirements
......
Roughly 400,000 other working-age people have died of COVID-19. And legal immigration has fallen by about 1 million.
https://apnews.com/article/inflation-bus...89d18a51e7
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