Stars Not Aligned for Job Openings and Skills

Unemployment dropped last month to its lowest level since 2001, yet wage growth is below levels seen in the late stages of previous economic expansions and underemployment remains above the lows of the previous cycles. These dissonant readings point to an increasing mismatch between workers’ skills and the roles employers are seeking to fill, a conflict measured by the Beveridge curve, which tracks the relationship between unemployment and job vacancies.