How Aware Is the Public of Labor Market Conditions?

Kudlyak, Marianna; Miskanic, Brandon E.

Journal Article

How Aware Is the Public of Labor Market Conditions?

Abstract: Consumers’ perceptions of labor market conditions have historically aligned closely with the unemployment rate. However, the two diverged during the pandemic, when the unemployment rate spiked while people’s views of the labor market remained more positive. This raises the question of whether public perceptions around the labor market have become untethered from the data. Measuring labor market conditions using the jobless unemployment rate, which excludes temporary layoffs, suggests this is not the case: the historical link between people’s perceptions and measured labor market conditions has remained strong.

Keywords: labor markets; labor market conditions; unemployment; public perceptions; temporary layoffs;