The historically tight labor market led to employers agreeing to pay more for workers, meaning that boosting wages and benefits proved more economical than finding new workers or risking losing existing workers. “But as the year progressed, the labor market was able to move forward.”Heading into 2023, many Wall Street forecasters were predicting a recession. In Nevada, the powerful Culinary Workers union won a 32 percent raise in its five-year contract — the largest increase in nearly 90 years — for about 40,000 workers, the union said, prompting workers to authorize a strike this autumn. Yet, according to labor economists, historians, and sociologists, the momentum in the labor movement is much more than a response to a hot labor market and inflation. And economists expect the labor market to continue a healthy pace of growth in 2024.

Source: Washington Post December 30, 2023 22:53 UTC