Work in Progress: Labor Force Participation’s Slow But Sure Climb
In early December, occam’s “looking for work” metric correctly predicted a coming increase in the Labor Force Participation Rate (“Not Safe For Work – Understanding Lag in American Labor Force Participation,” December 8, 2022), despite the fact that the LFPR had remained stubbornly below pre-COVID levels. We believe our looking-for-work metric (sampled daily) is a leading indicator for the LFPR. Specifically, we observed the following sequence: 1) a crisp upward inflection in the occam looking-for-work metric in late November / early December, followed by 2) a similarly crisp inflection in the LFPR in the early months of 2023, as those who were seeing work towards the end of the year found the employment they sought. Below, we once again consult occam™ for trends in job seeking behavior and find reassurance that wage growth will continue to be moderated by an increasing supply of labor.