Firm are keeping staff but cutting hours worked

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 Firm are keeping staff but cutting hours worked

Firms are still hiring.

But, with average weekly hours being curtailed, aggregate hours worked appear to have peaked in Q4.

Talk of a soft landing has intensified.

But the data paint a different picture.

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Real spending peaked in Q1, housing starts in Q2, and industrial production in Q3.

Payrolls are still expanding, and layoffs are near historically low levels.

Given the structural imbalance between unfilled jobs and unemployed workers, those metrics are unlikely to be useful indicators of what lies ahead for the economy.

Companies keeping staff as they are difficult to get but not paying or asking for overtime.


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