
Unfilled jobs and the increasing desire to work from home
Each month, the Knoxville Chamber provides a varied list of economic indicators with subsequent insight into how the data and information may impact the region.
The Knoxville Chamber releases a quarterly economic outlook report coined “ECO.” In it, they evaluate market trends both locally and nationally. Here are some of the key issues that may be of interest to teknovation.biz readers.
Work From Home Population Growth
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey (ACS), 13.8 percent of the nation’s workers aged 16 and older work from home. This is most likely one of the lasting impacts of post-pandemic life.
The share of the Knoxville MSA’s working age population that work from home is 13.2 percent. The share among Knoxville’s peer MSAs are Raleigh with nearly a quarter of people working from home, Nashville with 17.4 percent, Asheville with 16.3 percent, and Chattanooga at 13.0 percent.
Growth in the Labor Shortage
The labor shortages are persisting longer than many economists expected. There continues to be high job demand and slower workforce growth resulting in fierce competition for talent and many open jobs going unfilled. According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the nation had 8.1 million jobs to fill and only 5.3 million hires in November, meaning there are 1.5 job openings for every unemployed person.
In November, the largest increases in U.S. job openings were in professional and business services (+273,000), financial activities (+114,000), health care and social assistance (+44,000), private educational services (+38,000), other services (+22,000), arts/entertainment/recreation (+19,000), construction (+17,000), and wholesale trade (+15,000).
On the other hand, the largest decreases in job openings were in accommodation and food services (-102,000), information (-89,000), manufacturing (-56,000), transportation/warehousing/utilities (-36,000), and retail trade (-4,000).
It will take time for this mismatch between labor demand and supply to align. In the meantime, wages will continue to rise as businesses compete to attract talent.
Like what you've read?
Forward to a friend!