In 2025, it was estimated that over 163 million Americans were in some form of employment, while 4.16 percent of the total workforce was unemployed. This was the lowest unemployment rate since the 1950s, although these figures are expected to rise in 2023 and beyond. 1980s-2010s Since the 1980s, the total United States labor force has generally risen as the population has grown, however, the annual average unemployment rate has fluctuated significantly, usually increasing in times of crisis, before falling more slowly during periods of recovery and economic stability. For example, unemployment peaked at 9.7 percent during the early 1980s recession, which was largely caused by the ripple effects of the Iranian Revolution on global oil prices and inflation. Other notable spikes came during the early 1990s; again, largely due to inflation caused by another oil shock, and during the early 2000s recession. The Great Recession then saw the U.S. unemployment rate soar to 9.6 percent, following the collapse of the U.S. housing market and its impact on the banking sector, and it was not until 2016 that unemployment returned to pre-recession levels. 2020s 2019 had marked a decade-long low in unemployment, before the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic saw the sharpest year-on-year increase in unemployment since the Great Depression, and the total number of workers fell by almost 10 million people. Despite the continuation of the pandemic in the years that followed, alongside the associated supply-chain issues and onset of the inflation crisis, unemployment reached just 3.67 percent in 2022 - current projections are for this figure to rise in 2023 and the years that follow, although these forecasts are subject to change if recent years are anything to go by.

The inflation rate in the United States declined significantly between June 2022 and September 2025, despite rising inflationary pressures towards the end of 2024. The peak inflation rate was recorded in June 2022, at *** percent. In August 2023, the Federal Reserve's interest rate hit its highest level during the observed period, at **** percent, and remained unchanged until September 2024, when the Federal Reserve implemented its first rate cut since September 2021. By September 2025, the rate dropped to **** percent, signaling a shift in monetary policy. What is the Federal Reserve interest rate? The Federal Reserve interest rate, or the federal funds rate, is the rate at which banks and credit unions lend to and borrow from each other. It is one of the Federal Reserve's key tools for maintaining strong employment rates, stable prices, and reasonable interest rates. The rate is determined by the Federal Reserve and adjusted eight times a year, though it can be changed through emergency meetings during times of crisis. The Fed doesn't directly control the interest rate but sets a target rate. It then uses open market operations to influence rates toward this target. Ways of measuring inflation Inflation is typically measured using several methods, with the most common being the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI tracks the price of a fixed basket of goods and services over time, providing a measure of the price changes consumers face. At the end of 2023, the CPI in the United States was ****** percent, up from ****** a year earlier. A more business-focused measure is the producer price index (PPI), which represents the costs of firms.

Unemployment Rate in the United States increased to 4.40 percent in September from 4.30 percent in August of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has experienced sharply rising then falling inflation alongside persistent labor market imbalances. This Economic Commentary interprets these macroeconomic dynamics, as represented by the Beveridge and Phillips curves, through the lens of a macroeconomic model. It uses the structure of the model to rationalize the debate about whether the US economy can expect a hard or soft landing. The model is surprised by the resiliency of the labor market as the US economy experienced disinflation. We suggest that the model’s limited ability to capture this resiliency is a feature of using a linear model to forecast the historically unprecedented movements seen after the pandemic among inflation, unemployment, and vacancy rates. We explain how, by adjusting the model to mimic congestion in a tight labor market and greater wage and price flexibility in a high-inflation environment, as during the post-pandemic period, the model can then capture what has been a path consistent with a soft landing.

In March 2025, inflation amounted to 2.4 percent, while wages grew by 4.3 percent. The inflation rate has not exceeded the rate of wage growth since January 2023. Inflation in 2022 The high rates of inflation in 2022 meant that the real terms value of American wages took a hit. Many Americans report feelings of concern over the economy and a worsening of their financial situation. The inflation situation in the United States is one that was experienced globally in 2022, mainly due to COVID-19 related supply chain constraints and disruption due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The monthly inflation rate for the U.S. reached a 40-year high in June 2022 at 9.1 percent, and annual inflation for 2022 reached eight percent. Without appropriate wage increases, Americans will continue to see a decline in their purchasing power. Wages in the U.S. Despite the level of wage growth reaching 6.7 percent in the summer of 2022, it has not been enough to curb the impact of even higher inflation rates. The federally mandated minimum wage in the United States has not increased since 2009, meaning that individuals working minimum wage jobs have taken a real terms pay cut for the last twelve years. There are discrepancies between states - the minimum wage in California can be as high as 15.50 U.S. dollars per hour, while a business in Oklahoma may be as low as two U.S. dollars per hour. However, even the higher wage rates in states like California and Washington may be lacking - one analysis found that if minimum wage had kept up with productivity, the minimum hourly wage in the U.S. should have been 22.88 dollars per hour in 2021. Additionally, the impact of decreased purchasing power due to inflation will impact different parts of society in different ways with stark contrast in average wages due to both gender and race.

Context

The Federal Reserve sets interest rates to promote conditions that achieve the mandate set by the Congress — high employment, low and stable inflation, sustainable economic growth, and moderate long-term interest rates. Interest rates set by the Fed directly influence the cost of borrowing money. Lower interest rates encourage more people to obtain a mortgage for a new home or to borrow money for an automobile or for home improvement. Lower rates encourage businesses to borrow funds to invest in expansion such as purchasing new equipment, updating plants, or hiring more workers. Higher interest rates restrain such borrowing by consumers and businesses.

Content

This dataset includes data on the economic conditions in the United States on a monthly basis since 1954. The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions trade federal funds (balances held at Federal Reserve Banks) with each other overnight. The rate that the borrowing institution pays to the lending institution is determined between the two banks; the weighted average rate for all of these types of negotiations is called the effective federal funds rate. The effective federal funds rate is determined by the market but is influenced by the Federal Reserve through open market operations to reach the federal funds rate target. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets eight times a year to determine the federal funds target rate; the target rate transitioned to a target range with an upper and lower limit in December 2008. The real gross domestic product is calculated as the seasonally adjusted quarterly rate of change in the gross domestic product based on chained 2009 dollars. The unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed as a seasonally adjusted percentage of the labor force. The inflation rate reflects the monthly change in the Consumer Price Index of products excluding food and energy.

Acknowledgements

The interest rate data was published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' economic data portal. The gross domestic product data was provided by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis; the unemployment and consumer price index data was provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Inspiration

How does economic growth, unemployment, and inflation impact the Federal Reserve's interest rates decisions? How has the interest rate policy changed over time? Can you predict the Federal Reserve's next decision? Will the target range set in March 2017 be increased, decreased, or remain the same?

Graph and download economic data for Employment Cost Index: Wages and Salaries: Private Industry Workers (ECIWAG) from Q1 2001 to Q2 2025 about cost, ECI, salaries, workers, private industries, wages, private, employment, industry, inflation, indexes, and USA.

Economic welfare is essential in the modern economy since it directly reflects the standard of living, distribution of resources, and general social satisfaction, which influences individual and social well-being. This study aims to explore the relationship between national income accounting different attributes and the economic welfare in Pakistan. However, this study used data from 1950 to 2022, and data was downloaded from the World Bank data portal. Regression analysis is used to investigate the relationship between them and is very effective in measuring the relationship between endogenous and exogenous variables. Moreover, generalized methods of movement (GMM) are used as the robustness of the regression. Our results show that foreign direct investment outflow, Gross domestic product growth rate, GDP per capita, higher Interest, market capitalization, and population growth have a significant negative on the unemployment rate, indicating the rise in these factors leads to a decrease in the employment rate in Pakistan. Trade and savings have a significant positive impact on the unemployment rate, indicating the rise in these factors leads to an increase in the unemployment rate for various reasons. Moreover, all the factors of national income accounting have a significant positive relationship with life expectancy, indicating that an increase in these factors leads to an increase in economic welfare and life expectancy due to better health facilities, many resources, and correct economic policies. However, foreign direct investment, inflation rate, lending interest rate, and population growth have significant positive effects on age dependency, indicating these factors increase the age dependency. Moreover, GDP growth and GDP per capita negatively impact age dependency. Similarly, all the national income accounting factors have a significant negative relationship with legal rights that leads to decreased legal rights. Moreover, due to better health facilities and health planning, there is a negative significant relationship between national income accounting attributes and motility rate among children. Our study advocated the implications for the policymakers and the government to make policies for the welfare and increase the social factors.

The Question “Why unemployment?” is one of the most central topics of economic theory since the great depression. Unemployment remains one of the most important problems of economic policies in industrial countries. Unemployment has different causes and therefore also different countermeasures are required. “Together with the destruction of environment unemployment and inflation are in the focus of economic and political discussions on macroeconomic problems and are considered as the greatest challenges of economic policy. Depending on the level of unemployment there is a higher focus on inflation or on unemployment, if both are on an alarming level at the same time they are in the shot simultaneously. In anyway both issues need to be analyzed together because they are not independent from each other. Experiences from the recent years have shown that combating inflation leads to an increase in unemployment, at least temporarily but probably also permanently. The other way around; combating unemployment may under certain circumstances also lead to an increase in inflation… Unemployment and inflation are macroeconomic problems. The level of both undesirable developments is determined by the relations in the entire economy. Therefor it is necessary to use macroeconomic theory which deals the general economic context for the analysis. Both problems are enhanced by structural factors which also need to be analyzed. In contrast to microeconomic theory which focuses on different individual decision makers, in macroeconomic theory decision makers and decisions are summarized in macroeconomic aggregates. The common procedure is to summarize decision makers into aggregates like “private households”, “enterprises” and “the state” and the decision makers concerning the use of income into “private consumption”, “investments” and “public expenditure” (Kromphardt, Jürgen, 1998: Arbeitslosigkeit und Inflation (unemployment and inflation). 2., newly revised A. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, p. 17-18). Macroeconomic approaches on the explanation of unemployment and inflation are highly controversial in economic theory. Therefore the author starts with the attempt to present different explanations for unemployment and inflation from different macroeconomic positions. There are different unemployment: classical unemployment (reason: real wages to high), Keynesian unemployment (reason: demand for goods to low), unemployment due to a lack of working places (reason: capital stock to low). These positions give conflicting explanations and recommendations because they are based on different perceptions of the starting position. Therefor the author confronts central positions with empirical data on the macro level with the following restriction: “It is impossible to prove theories as correct (to verify). This is a reason for the fact that macroeconomic controversies do not come to a conclusion but are continued in a modified way. Furthermore economic statements in this field always affect social and political interests as all economic policies favor or put as a disadvantage interests of distinct social groups in a different way.“ (Kromphardt, a.a.O., S. 20).

Data tables in HISTAT (1) Development of employment: Presented by the development of annual average unemployment rates and the balance of labor force of the institute for labor market and occupation research (IAB, Nuremberg) after the domestic concept(employment with Germany as the place of work) For characterizing the overall economic developments, those values are used which play an important role in the reports of the German central bank: (2) Inflation: Rate of differences in the price index for costs of living compared to the previous year (3) Currency reserves of German federal banks and the German central bank: measure for foreign economic situation and the payment balance of the central bank (4) Development of economic growth: Presented by the nominal and real growth rate of the GDP (5) Inflation rate of the GDP, money supply, growth rate of the price index of the GDP (6) Labor productivity (= GDP per employee, domestic concept) (7) Real wage per employee (8) Exchange rate: DM/$ (monthly averages) (9) Growth of DGP, productivity, economically active population, real incomes, unemployment rate and adjusted wages (10) Time series connected with labor demand (11) GDP, labor volume, employees, working hours and labor productivity (12) Employee compensation, wages and ...

The Volcker Shock was a period of historically high interest rates precipitated by Federal Reserve Chairperson Paul Volcker's decision to raise the central bank's key interest rate, the Fed funds effective rate, during the first three years of his term. Volcker was appointed chairperson of the Fed in August 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, as replacement for William Miller, who Carter had made his treasury secretary. Volcker was one of the most hawkish (supportive of tighter monetary policy to stem inflation) members of the Federal Reserve's committee, and quickly set about changing the course of monetary policy in the U.S. in order to quell inflation. The Volcker Shock is remembered for bringing an end to over a decade of high inflation in the United States, prompting a deep recession and high unemployment, and for spurring on debt defaults among developing countries in Latin America who had borrowed in U.S. dollars.

Monetary tightening and the recessions of the early '80s

Beginning in October 1979, Volcker's Fed tightened monetary policy by raising interest rates. This decision had the effect of depressing demand and slowing down the U.S. economy, as credit became more expensive for households and businesses. The Fed funds rate, the key overnight rate at which banks lend their excess reserves to each other, rose as high as 17.6 percent in early 1980. The rate was allowed to fall back below 10 percent following this first peak, however, due to worries that inflation was not falling fast enough, a second cycle of monetary tightening was embarked upon starting in August of 1980. The rate would reach its all-time peak in June of 1981, at 19.1 percent. The second recession sparked by these hikes was far deeper than the 1980 recession, with unemployment peaking at 10.8 percent in December 1980, the highest level since The Great Depression. This recession would drive inflation to a low point during Volcker's terms of 2.5 percent in August 1983.

The legacy of the Volcker Shock

By the end of Volcker's terms as Fed Chair, inflation was at a manageable rate of around four percent, while unemployment had fallen under six percent, as the economy grew and business confidence returned. While supporters of Volcker's actions point to these numbers as proof of the efficacy of his actions, critics have claimed that there were less harmful ways that inflation could have been brought under control. The recessions of the early 1980s are cited as accelerating deindustrialization in the U.S., as manufacturing jobs lost in 'rust belt' states such as Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania never returned during the years of recovery. The Volcker Shock was also a driving factor behind the Latin American debt crises of the 1980s, as governments in the region defaulted on debts which they had incurred in U.S. dollars. Debates about the validity of using interest rate hikes to get inflation under control have recently re-emerged due to the inflationary pressures facing the U.S. following the Coronavirus pandemic and the Federal Reserve's subsequent decision to embark on a course of monetary tightening.

The statistic shows the inflation rate in France from 1987 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. The inflation rate is calculated using the price increase of a defined product basket. This product basket contains products and services on which the average consumer spends money throughout the year. They include expenses for groceries, clothes, rent, power, telecommunications, recreational activities, and raw materials (e.g. gas, oil), as well as federal fees and taxes. In 2024, the inflation rate in France was at about 2.32 percent compared to the previous year. The economy of France France is among the top six countries with the largest gross domestic product worldwide, behind the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, and the United States. It is thus one of the leading economies worldwide. Its economy mostly relies on the services sector with almost 80 percent, agriculture making up only 1 percent of the economy and the industry sector the rest. These three sectors are typically seen as the main pillars of a country’s economy. France is also among the leading exporting countries worldwide and the leading importing countries worldwide. Both France’s exports and imports have increased over the last few years. Its trade balance (a country’s exports minus its imports) has been decreasing significantly over the last decade, which means the value of France’s exports was considerably lower than the value of its imports. France’s main exports include wine, meat, and other food products. Its main imports are manufactured goods, among other products. As for the national finances, the national debt of France has been rising steadily and it is thus counted among the countries with the highest public debt, albeit lower in the ranking. Nevertheless, the standard of living in France is quite high, its life expectancy is among the highest in the world, and the employment rate has been steady, or even rising slightly, since 2009.

Economic welfare is essential in the modern economy since it directly reflects the standard of living, distribution of resources, and general social satisfaction, which influences individual and social well-being. This study aims to explore the relationship between national income accounting different attributes and the economic welfare in Pakistan. However, this study used data from 1950 to 2022, and data was downloaded from the World Bank data portal. Regression analysis is used to investigate the relationship between them and is very effective in measuring the relationship between endogenous and exogenous variables. Moreover, generalized methods of movement (GMM) are used as the robustness of the regression. Our results show that foreign direct investment outflow, Gross domestic product growth rate, GDP per capita, higher Interest, market capitalization, and population growth have a significant negative on the unemployment rate, indicating the rise in these factors leads to a decrease in the employment rate in Pakistan. Trade and savings have a significant positive impact on the unemployment rate, indicating the rise in these factors leads to an increase in the unemployment rate for various reasons. Moreover, all the factors of national income accounting have a significant positive relationship with life expectancy, indicating that an increase in these factors leads to an increase in economic welfare and life expectancy due to better health facilities, many resources, and correct economic policies. However, foreign direct investment, inflation rate, lending interest rate, and population growth have significant positive effects on age dependency, indicating these factors increase the age dependency. Moreover, GDP growth and GDP per capita negatively impact age dependency. Similarly, all the national income accounting factors have a significant negative relationship with legal rights that leads to decreased legal rights. Moreover, due to better health facilities and health planning, there is a negative significant relationship between national income accounting attributes and motility rate among children. Our study advocated the implications for the policymakers and the government to make policies for the welfare and increase the social factors.

Graph and download economic data for Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private (CES0500000003) from Mar 2006 to Sep 2025 about earnings, average, establishment survey, hours, wages, private, employment, and USA.

Revenue in the Temporary Employment Placement Agencies industry is anticipated to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.1% over the five years through 2025 to €270.9 billion. The COVID-19 outbreak meant key employers of temporary workers in the hospitality and tourist sector shut their doors and companies froze hiring due to economic uncertainty, dealing a sizeable blow to revenue at the beginning of the five-year period. As the economy reopened in 2021, companies quickly resumed hiring, leading to record vacancies, especially within the service sector, driving up revenue for recruitment agencies. The widespread adoption of remote and flexible work arrangements has altered demand patterns, with clients seeking specialised talent for hybrid or short-term digital projects. Labour shortages in healthcare, logistics and IT industries have further fuelled demand for temporary staffing solutions. At the same time, agencies have faced heightened competition from online staffing platforms and digital marketplaces, driving investment in technology and automation to enhance candidate matching and streamline operations. Despite this, recruitment agencies have seen their profit fall over the past five years due to economic uncertainty, inflation and rising business expenses increasing operating costs. An increasingly tight labour market encourages employers to rely on temporary employment placement agencies to compete. Several European countries rank highly regarding temporary workers and have a large short-term job market. For example, in 2023, the Netherlands and Portugal had more than 15% of employed people under temporary contracts, according to Eurostat. Revenue is expected to swell by 4% in 2025 as a tight labour market across Europe encourages employers to rely on temporary-employment placement agencies. Revenue is slated to climb at a compound annual rate of 8.7% over the five years through 2030 to €410.3 billion. While the labour market is likely to remain tight in many countries due to skill mismatches, employers will keep turning to placement agencies for their databases to track and identify the right candidates. Companies will lean on temporary hires as the economic outlook remains unclear. However, threats to demand loom. The automation of more routine jobs will be a threat to some long-standing temporary jobs. Across Europe, countries that traditionally rely on a strong network of short-term workers are implementing policies that may disrupt or expand services – Spain already introduced reforms in late 2021 to increase permanent positions and remove temporary contracts. Temporary employment placement agencies will increasingly deploy AI procedures to increase efficiency, including AI chatbots and CV screening; companies that don’t follow suit risk being left behind in the age of AI evolution.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) became law on August 8, 2022. Under the law, new qualifying renewable and/or carbon-free electricity generation projects constructed in certain areas of the US, called energy communities, are eligible for bonus worth an additional 10% to the value of the production tax credit or a 10 percentage point increase in the value of the investment tax credit. The IRA does not explicitly map or list these specific communities. Instead, eligible communities are defined by a series of qualifications:

a brownfield site,

a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or non-metropolitan statistical area with either (a) 0.17% or greater employment or (b) 25% or greater local tax revenues related to the extraction, processing, transport, or storage of coal, oil, or natural gas; and an unemployment rate at or above the national average for the previous year, or

a census tract containing or adjacent to (a) a coal mine closed after December 31, 1999 or (b) a coal-fired electric generating unit retired after December 31, 2009.

These maps and data layers contain GIS data for coal mines, coal-fired power plants, fossil energy related employment, and brownfield sites. Each record represents a point, tract or metropolitan statistical area and non-metropolitan statistical area with attributes including plant type, operating information, GEOID, etc. The input data used includes:

Brownfields – Source: EPA. No analysis was performed on this data layer. However, tract polygon layers have a column denoting brownfield presence (0 for no brownfield site, 1 if the tract contains a brownfield somewhere within the polygon).

Eligible Employment MSAs (“Final_Employment_Qualifying_MSAs”) – Source: US Census County Business Patterns. MSAs and non-MSA regions with employment over 0.17% in the fossil fuel industry (defined here as NAICS codes 211, 2121, 213, 23712, 324, 4247, and 486) and unemployment greater than or equal to 3.9% (the average national unemployment rate in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics).

--Possibly Eligible MSAs (“FossilFuel_Employment_Qualifying_MSAs”) are MSA and non-MSA regions that meet or exceed the 0.17% employment in the fossil fuel industry threshold but do not exceed the unemployment threshold.

--Relevant columns include:

  a) SUM_nhgis0: Total employment in 2020.


  b) SUM_nhgis1: Total unemployment in 2020.


  c) P_Unemp: Percent unemployment in 2020.


  d) Q_Unemp: Boolean column indicating if the MSA or non-MSA’s unemployment rate is at or above the national average of 3.9%.


  e) FF_Qual: Boolean column indicating if the MSA or non-MSA had employment in the fossil fuel industry at or above 0.17% in the past 11 years.


  f) final_Qual: Boolean column indicating if an MSA or non-MSA qualifies for both unemployment rate and fossil fuel employment under the IRA.

Retired Power Plants – Source: EIA via HFLID. Qualifying power plants were selected by use of coal in at least one generator, and if they were retired (RET_DATE) on or after January 1, 2010. This data goes through December 2021.

--Adjacent tract data was derived by Cecelia Isaac using ESRI ArcGIS Pro.

Abandoned Coal Mines – Source: MSHA. Mines labeled “Abandoned”, “Abandoned and Sealed” or “NonProducing” between January 1, 2000 and September 2022.

--Adjacent tract data was derived by Cecelia Isaac using ESRI ArcGIS Pro.

5) US State Borders– Source: IPUMS NHGIS.

Also included here are polygon shapefiles for Onshore Wind and Solar Candidate Project Areas from Princeton REPEAT. These files have been updated to include columns related to the energy communities.

New columns include:

CoalPlantTract: Boolean column indicating if the CPA is within a tract that qualifies because of a retired coal plant.

CoalMineTract: Boolean column indicating if the CPA is within a tract that qualifies because of a closed coal mine.

FossilFuelEmp: Boolean column indicating if the CPA is within an MSA or non-MSA with greater than or equal to 0.17% employment in the fossil fuel industry.

UnempQualification: Boolean column indicating if the CPA is within an MSA or non-MSA with greater than or equal to 0.17% employment in the fossil fuel industry.

MSA_non_to: The code of the MSA or non-MSA area that contains the CPA.

P_Unemp: The percent unemployment of the MSA or non-MSA that contains the CPA in 2021.

In the 3rd quarter of 2025, the employment rate in the United Kingdom was 75 percent, down from 75.3 percent in the previous quarter. After almost dropping to 70.1 percent in 2011, the employment rate in the United Kingdom started to climb at a relatively fast pace, peaking in early 2020. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, employment declined to 74.6 percent by January 2021. Although not quite at pre-pandemic levels, the employment rate has since recovered. Labor market trouble in 2025? Although unemployment in the UK spiked at 5.3 percent in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it fell throughout most of 2022, to just 3.6 percent in August 2022. Around that time, the number of job vacancies in the UK was also at quite high levels, reaching a peak of 1.3 million by May 2022. The strong labor market put employees in quite a strong position, perhaps encouraging the high number of resignations that took place around that time. Since 2023, however, the previously hot labor market has cooled, with unemployment reaching 4.6 percent in April 2025 and job vacancies falling to a four-year low of 736,000 in May 2025. Furthermore, the number of employees on UK payrolls has fallen by 227,500 in the first five months of the year, indicating that 2025 will be a tough one for the labor market. Headline economic measures revised in early 2025 Along with the unemployment rate, the UK's inflation rate is also expected to be higher than initially thought in 2025, reaching a rate of 3.2 percent for the year. The economy will also grow at a slower pace of one percent rather than the initial prediction of two percent. Though these negative trends are not expected to continue in the long term, the current government has already expended significant political capital on unpopular decisions, such as the cutting of Winter Fuel Payments to pensioners in 2024. As of June 2025, they are almost as unpopular as the previous government, with a net approval rating of -52 percent.

Graph and download economic data for Employment Cost Index: Wages and Salaries: State and Local Government: All Workers (ECIGVTWAG) from Q1 2001 to Q2 2025 about ECI, state & local, salaries, workers, wages, government, inflation, and USA.

Revenue in the Temporary Employment Placement Agencies industry is anticipated to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.1% over the five years through 2025 to €270.9 billion. The COVID-19 outbreak meant key employers of temporary workers in the hospitality and tourist sector shut their doors and companies froze hiring due to economic uncertainty, dealing a sizeable blow to revenue at the beginning of the five-year period. As the economy reopened in 2021, companies quickly resumed hiring, leading to record vacancies, especially within the service sector, driving up revenue for recruitment agencies. The widespread adoption of remote and flexible work arrangements has altered demand patterns, with clients seeking specialised talent for hybrid or short-term digital projects. Labour shortages in healthcare, logistics and IT industries have further fuelled demand for temporary staffing solutions. At the same time, agencies have faced heightened competition from online staffing platforms and digital marketplaces, driving investment in technology and automation to enhance candidate matching and streamline operations. Despite this, recruitment agencies have seen their profit fall over the past five years due to economic uncertainty, inflation and rising business expenses increasing operating costs. An increasingly tight labour market encourages employers to rely on temporary employment placement agencies to compete. Several European countries rank highly regarding temporary workers and have a large short-term job market. For example, in 2023, the Netherlands and Portugal had more than 15% of employed people under temporary contracts, according to Eurostat. Revenue is expected to swell by 4% in 2025 as a tight labour market across Europe encourages employers to rely on temporary-employment placement agencies. Revenue is slated to climb at a compound annual rate of 8.7% over the five years through 2030 to €410.3 billion. While the labour market is likely to remain tight in many countries due to skill mismatches, employers will keep turning to placement agencies for their databases to track and identify the right candidates. Companies will lean on temporary hires as the economic outlook remains unclear. However, threats to demand loom. The automation of more routine jobs will be a threat to some long-standing temporary jobs. Across Europe, countries that traditionally rely on a strong network of short-term workers are implementing policies that may disrupt or expand services – Spain already introduced reforms in late 2021 to increase permanent positions and remove temporary contracts. Temporary employment placement agencies will increasingly deploy AI procedures to increase efficiency, including AI chatbots and CV screening; companies that don’t follow suit risk being left behind in the age of AI evolution.

Revenue in the Temporary Employment Placement Agencies industry is anticipated to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.1% over the five years through 2025 to €270.9 billion. The COVID-19 outbreak meant key employers of temporary workers in the hospitality and tourist sector shut their doors and companies froze hiring due to economic uncertainty, dealing a sizeable blow to revenue at the beginning of the five-year period. As the economy reopened in 2021, companies quickly resumed hiring, leading to record vacancies, especially within the service sector, driving up revenue for recruitment agencies. The widespread adoption of remote and flexible work arrangements has altered demand patterns, with clients seeking specialised talent for hybrid or short-term digital projects. Labour shortages in healthcare, logistics and IT industries have further fuelled demand for temporary staffing solutions. At the same time, agencies have faced heightened competition from online staffing platforms and digital marketplaces, driving investment in technology and automation to enhance candidate matching and streamline operations. Despite this, recruitment agencies have seen their profit fall over the past five years due to economic uncertainty, inflation and rising business expenses increasing operating costs. An increasingly tight labour market encourages employers to rely on temporary employment placement agencies to compete. Several European countries rank highly regarding temporary workers and have a large short-term job market. For example, in 2023, the Netherlands and Portugal had more than 15% of employed people under temporary contracts, according to Eurostat. Revenue is expected to swell by 4% in 2025 as a tight labour market across Europe encourages employers to rely on temporary-employment placement agencies. Revenue is slated to climb at a compound annual rate of 8.7% over the five years through 2030 to €410.3 billion. While the labour market is likely to remain tight in many countries due to skill mismatches, employers will keep turning to placement agencies for their databases to track and identify the right candidates. Companies will lean on temporary hires as the economic outlook remains unclear. However, threats to demand loom. The automation of more routine jobs will be a threat to some long-standing temporary jobs. Across Europe, countries that traditionally rely on a strong network of short-term workers are implementing policies that may disrupt or expand services – Spain already introduced reforms in late 2021 to increase permanent positions and remove temporary contracts. Temporary employment placement agencies will increasingly deploy AI procedures to increase efficiency, including AI chatbots and CV screening; companies that don’t follow suit risk being left behind in the age of AI evolution.

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Median usual weekly real earnings: Wage and salary workers: 16 years and over (LES1252881600Q) from Q1 1979 to Q2 2025 about full-time, salaries, workers, earnings, 16 years +, wages, median, real, employment, and USA.