Key insights
- A survey indicates that a quarter of job searches are lasting over a year, signaling potential weakness in the labor market. Factors contributing to the slowdown include tariff uncertainty, immigration restrictions, AI adoption, and rising gasoline prices. Goldman Sachs estimates gasoline prices alone reduce job creation by 10,000 positions monthly. Prolonged job searches could negatively impact the broader economy, though the unemployment rate remains near historic lows.
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In today’s low-hiring, low-firing job market, finding a new position can take ages.
That’s according to a survey by job board Monster, which showed 25% of job hunters had been at it for more than a year. That’s a significant figure considering unemployment benefits in most states last six months.
The figure, based on an online survey of 1,003 job seekers in March, differed from official Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys, which showed that 25.3% of unemployed people had been out of work for six months or more in April. Bureau of Labor Statistics via Federal Reserve Economic Data. However, they showed the same trend: job searches are taking longer than they used to.
Longer job hunts are a symptom of weakness in the labor market, which could spell trouble for the economy as a whole if the trend worsens.
U.S. employers have been reluctant to lay off their workforces in large numbers in recent months, and the unemployment rate has stayed near historic lows.
However, that doesn’t mean getting hired is easy: the 25.3% six-month job search rate was down only slightly from the 26% rate in December, which had been a post-pandemic high. The figure had hovered around 20% in the years leading up to the pandemic.
Several factors have dragged down hiring lately: uncertainty about tariffs has made employers table hiring and expansion plans, while President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration has shrunk the available workforce. As a more minor factor, the adoption of artificial intelligence software has reduced the need for human workers in some roles.
The latest headwind comes from the surge in gasoline prices, which has further stoked uncertainty and reduced job creation by an estimated 10,000 positions a month, according to a recent Goldman Sachs estimate.
Amid the hiring slowdown, job hunters are taking drastic steps to land new positions, according to Monster. Among those surveyed, 64% have applied to jobs outside their industry or typical role; 32% said they would take a pay cut; and 73% would give up at least one major benefit.
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