It feels discordant to be celebrating awards right now, while we're in the middle of a terrible crisis. But the #Pulitzer Prizes are really about reflecting on the remarkable and important journalism being performed all across the country, and that's more important than ever.
I am so, so proud of all my @nytimes colleagues who were winners and finalists. The idea that I get to come to work (er, Zoom to work) every day alongside these fearless, dogged and talented journalists still boggles my mind.
And I am *beyond* excited to see @brianmrosenthal, recognized for his incredible work. Brian is one of the most talented investigative reporters working today. He is also one of the kindest and most generous colleagues.
Local news is more vital right now than ever, but it's also under greater threat than ever. If you value strong, independent journalism, please, please subscribe to your local paper. Democracy literally depends on it.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Job openings ticked up in May (but only because April was revised down). Layoffs edged up. Quits basically flat. All consistent with a gradually slowing, but not collapsing, job market. #JOLTS
Full data: bls.gov/news.release/j…
There were 8.1 million job openings on the last day of May. That's up from 7.9 million in April, revised down from the 8.1m originally reported.
Larger story here is that openings are clearly falling quickly, even if they're still high in absolute terms. #JOLTS
There were 1.2 job openings for every unemployed worker in May. That's more or less where things stood immediately before the pandemic (when the labor market was widely viewed as strong but not overheated).
The U.S. economy slowed in the final three months of the year, but only because the Q3 number was so strong -- the 3.3% growth rate in Q4 was well above expectations and certainly offered no hints of a brewing recession. (Belated charts thread)
This is not a case where the volatile components of G.D.P. made a weak quarter look strong, as sometimes happens. Measures of underlying demand were also very strong.
For all the predictions of a recession, G.D.P. growth actually *accelerated* in 2023, and topped the prepandemic average growth rate as well.
Job openings, quits and layoffs all edged down slightly in November. Consistent with a gradually cooling labor market, but definitely no sign things are falling off a cliff. #JOLTS
Data: bls.gov/news.release/j…
There were 8.8 million job openings on the last day of November. That's down a touch from October, but only because October was revised up. Big picture: Openings are trending down (and quite quickly, at that), but are still high by historical standards. #JOLTS
The number of job openings per unemployed worker actually ticked up in November (because unemployment fell), but ignore the noise. The labor market is becoming more balanced, though the ratio is (again) high relative to the prepandemic period.
The big increase in unemployment is mostly for "good" reasons: More people working, but also more people *looking* for work. Labor force grew by 736,000. Participation rate up by 0.2 percentage points.
U.S. employers added 253k jobs in April, defying (yet again) predictions of a slowdown. The unemployment rate ticked back down to 3.4%.
Data: bls.gov/news.release/e…
Full coverage: nytimes.com/live/2023/05/0…
Notably February and March both revised down, by a combined 149k jobs.
Average hourly earnings stronger than expected -- up 0.5% from March, 4.4% from a year earlier. Consistent with the ECI data showing little slowdown in wage growth.