The US labor market is slowing down.
Job gains in each of the last three months have been below 200,000. The unemployment rate is at an 18-month high. And job openings fell to a two-year low in July.
And now, some of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic-era labor market are seeing their leverage in the labor market erode: job-hoppers.
In a note to clients on Friday, economists at Bank of America led by Michael Gapen noted that wage gains for those switching jobs are now just barely higher than those who stay in their current role.
The three-month average of annual wage growth for job switchers dropped to 5.6% in August, down from 8.5% in July 2022 and barely higher than the 5.2% wage growth seen by those who didn't change jobs last month, according to data from the Atlanta Fed.