This data package includes the underlying data to replicate the charts, tables, and calculations presented in Labor market tightness and inflation before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, PIIE Working Paper 24-23.

If you use the data, please cite as:

Bloesch, Justin. 2024. Labor market tightness and inflation before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. PIIE Working Paper 24-23. Washington: Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Revenue in the Temporary Employment Agency industry is anticipated to drop at a compound annual rate of 4% in the five years through 2024 to €236.5 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 - a sizeable blow to revenue in the three years through 2022. Workers on temporary contracts represented a significant chuck of employment losses in all quarters of 2020. According to Eurostat data, temporary employment declined across Europe in the four years from 2017 to 2020, dipping from 13.8% to 11.9%. Since COVID-19 has slowed, companies have resumed hiring as confidence levels have been restored and vacancy levels have soared. An increasingly tight labour market encourages employers to rely on temporary employment placement agencies to fight in an increasingly competitive market. Several countries rank highly in terms of temporary workers with a large short-term job market. In 2022, the Netherlands and Spain have more than 15% of employed people under temporary contracts, according to Eurostat. Industry revenue is expected to shrink by 1.6% in 2024. Revenue is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.5% in the five years through 2029 to €295.4 billion. With 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 and inflation keeps squeezing budgets. 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 implanting policies that may disrupt or expand services. Spain has already introduced reforms that are taking effect to increase permanent positions and remove temporary contracts, while Italy is expanding its voucher scheme to encourage temporary hires.

This table contains figures on the net turnover in the labor market for the narrow care and welfare sectors; this is an aggregate of all sectors in the care and welfare sector, excluding childcare. The figures are broken down by AZW branches, country, part of the country, province and RegioPlus labor market regions. The percentages shown are a three-year average, using the last Friday before Christmas as the reference date for each year. The calculations relate to employees' main jobs. The municipality of residence of the employee is used to determine the region. Figures on net turnover in the labor market for the care and welfare sectors are broadly not included in this table (for a reference to these figures, see section 3). If the sectors in care and welfare are narrow, this means that childcare is not presented because childcare is not considered to be part of the broad care and welfare labor market. As a result, the figures on net turnover in the care and welfare labor market broadly relate to a different population than the figures on care and welfare narrowly. Figures on different populations are not published in the same table. The figures on the labor market in care and welfare are presented in their own table. This table was developed in the context of the Labor Market, Care and Welfare (AZW) research programme. For more trends and developments in the field of the healthcare and welfare labor market, see azwstatline.cbs.nl (see section 3). Data available from: 2010/2012 three-year averages to 2016/2018 three-year averages. Status of the figures: The figures in this table are provisional. The data on 2010/2012 three-year averages up to and including 2016/2018 three-year averages are provisional. Since this table has been discontinued, the data is no longer finalized. Changes as of 28 May 2020: None, this table has been discontinued and has been replaced by the table 'Net turnover on the labor market; AZW (narrow), region' (see section 3). When will new numbers come out? Not applicable anymore.

In the three months to April 2025, there were approximately 761,000 job vacancies in the UK, the fewest number of job vacancies since April 2021. The number of job vacancies in the United Kingdom reached a record high of 1.3 million in the three months to May 2022, with the number of vacancies steadily falling since then. During the provided time period, the number of job vacancies fell to its lowest levels in the months leading to June 2020, at just 328,000, at the height of COVID-19 restrictions. Tight labor market beginning to loosen After weathering the economic storm of COVID-19, the UK labor market has been reasonably healthy since 2021. The unemployment rate, which reached 5.1 percent in late 2020, declined in the following months, to a post-pandemic low of 3.5 percent by August 2022. Since that point, however, the unemployment rate has crept up, and was 4.4 percent in November 2024. Resignations have also started to decline, after reaching a peak of 442,000 in the second quarter of 2022, there were just 181,000 in the third quarter of 2024. Which industries are experiencing staff shortages? The percentage of businesses reporting a staff shortage in the UK reached 15.7 percent in September 2022, before falling to just 9.7 percent by October 2023, another indication of a loosening labor market. According to data from that month, approximately 1 in 4 UK businesses in the accommodation and food services had a shortage of staff, the highest of any sector, followed by human health and social work at 18.4 percent, and manufacturing at 17.6 percent. Many of the recent struggles of Britain's National Health Service are directly related to staff shortages, with the public seeing a shortage of doctors and nurses, and overworked staff as some of the main problems facing the NHS.

We examine the impact of labour and product market reforms on economic growth in 25 OECD countries between 1985 and 2013, and tests whether this impact is conditioned by the fiscal policy stance. Our local projection results suggest that controlling for endogeneity of reforms (by the Augmented Inverse Probability Weighted estimator) and fiscal policy is crucial. Our results show that product market reforms mostly cause slight negative growth, except when implemented during periods of neutral fiscal policy. Labour market reforms hurt growth under tight and neutral fiscal policy, but are conducive to economic growth if introduced during periods of expansionary fiscal policy.

Revenue in the Temporary Employment Agency industry is anticipated to drop at a compound annual rate of 4% in the five years through 2024 to €236.5 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 - a sizeable blow to revenue in the three years through 2022. Workers on temporary contracts represented a significant chuck of employment losses in all quarters of 2020. According to Eurostat data, temporary employment declined across Europe in the four years from 2017 to 2020, dipping from 13.8% to 11.9%. Since COVID-19 has slowed, companies have resumed hiring as confidence levels have been restored and vacancy levels have soared. An increasingly tight labour market encourages employers to rely on temporary employment placement agencies to fight in an increasingly competitive market. Several countries rank highly in terms of temporary workers with a large short-term job market. In 2022, the Netherlands and Spain have more than 15% of employed people under temporary contracts, according to Eurostat. Industry revenue is expected to shrink by 1.6% in 2024. Revenue is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.5% in the five years through 2029 to €295.4 billion. With 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 and inflation keeps squeezing budgets. 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 implanting policies that may disrupt or expand services. Spain has already introduced reforms that are taking effect to increase permanent positions and remove temporary contracts, while Italy is expanding its voucher scheme to encourage temporary hires.

Employment Agencies Market Size And Forecast

Employment Agencies Market size was valued at USD 18.06 Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 48.53 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 13.2 % during the forecast period 2024-2031.

Global Employment Agencies Market Drivers

The Employment Agencies Market is influenced by a variety of market drivers, which can significantly impact its growth and development. Some of the key drivers include:

Labor Market Dynamics: The overall health of the labor market, including employment rates, job vacancies, and talent shortages, drives demand for employment agencies. In tight labor markets, companies may rely more on agencies to fill positions quickly. Economic Conditions: Economic growth usually leads to increased hiring, encouraging businesses to use employment agencies for efficient recruitment processes. Conversely, during economic downturns, agencies may experience reduced demand.

Global Employment Agencies Market Restraints

The Employment Agencies Market, while offering various opportunities, also faces several market restraints that can impact its growth and effectiveness. Here are some of the key constraints:

Regulatory Challenges: Employment agencies must navigate a complex web of regulations, labor laws, and compliance requirements that can vary significantly by region. Noncompliance can lead to legal issues and fines. Economic Fluctuations: Economic downturns can lead to reduced hiring by companies, which directly affects the demand for employment agencies. In times of recession, businesses may rely more on internal hiring processes or cut back on staffing altogether.

This table contains figures on the characteristics of mobility within, to and from the labour market care and welfare narrow; this is an aggregation of all branches in care and welfare excluding childcare. The reference date of the figures is the last day of each quarter, with the exception of the 4th quarter. In the 4th quarter, the last Friday before Christmas is taken as the reference date. To determine the type of mobility, the population in a quarter is compared with the population in the same quarter one year earlier. If the employee was not working in care and well-being on one of the two reference dates and was on the other, there is mobility. As a result, employees who do not work in care and well-being every month, such as employees with a flexible employment relationship or employees with a zero-hour contract, are more often classified as mobile. The figures are classified according to the Standard Business Classification 2008 (SBI 2008) of Statistics Netherlands and broken down by ASBL branches, country, district, province, RegioPlus labour market regions and various types of mobility for both inflow and outflow. The calculations relate to the main jobs of employees. The region was determined on the basis of the employee's municipality of residence. The main activity (SBI code) of the company in which an employee works was used to determine the ASBL branches. This may not be the only activity a company undertakes. For the main activity ‘Other social advice, community houses and welfare cooperation bodies’ (SBI code: 88999) the collective agreement under which the employee is employed is also taken into account. Employees covered by collective labour agreements codes 0004 to 0300 or under collective labour agreements codes 0302 to 8102 are classified under branch ‘Other Care and Welfare’. Employees covered by another collective labour agreement code are classified under ‘Social Work (Other)’. A complete overview of all CLA codes can be found under Section 3. This table presents figures on labour market flows for the narrow care and welfare sectors. This means that figures on labour market flows for the care and welfare sectors are broadly excluded (for a reference to these figures see Section 3). The narrow labour market for care and welfare means that the childcare sector is not included. As a result, the figures on labour market flows of care and well-being relate narrowly to a different population than figures on care and well-being broadly. Figures on different populations are not published in the same table. The figures on the labour market in care and welfare are presented in a separate table. This table was developed as part of the Labour Market Care and Welfare (AZW) research programme. For more trends and developments in the labour market in care and welfare, see azwstatline.cbs.nl (see section 3).

Data available from: First quarter 2010

Status of figures: All figures are provisional. As long as the figures are provisional, there may be minimal differences. Both inflow and outflow are divided into different categories. The categorisation shall follow a hierarchy. An employee is always classified into only one category. In the case of inflows, the following order of precedence shall be maintained: returnees, side-entrancers and then others. In the case of outflows, the following order of precedence shall be maintained: outflow to a job in another sector outside AZW, benefit, self-employment, pension and others. For outflows to benefits and outflows to self-employed and information becomes available with delay. In that case, employees are first classified into the currently known categories. In a later update, employees are reclassified into the categories and the figures are adjusted.

Changes as of 21 May 2024: The table is supplemented by figures for Q4 2023. Previous figures have been revised as a result of the use of new, more recent sources. In a number of branches, series fluctuate due to administrative changes in the underlying source data.

When will there be new figures? This table is supplemented every quarter with new figures.

Revenue in the Temporary Employment Agency industry is anticipated to drop at a compound annual rate of 4% in the five years through 2024 to €236.5 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 - a sizeable blow to revenue in the three years through 2022. Workers on temporary contracts represented a significant chuck of employment losses in all quarters of 2020. According to Eurostat data, temporary employment declined across Europe in the four years from 2017 to 2020, dipping from 13.8% to 11.9%. Since COVID-19 has slowed, companies have resumed hiring as confidence levels have been restored and vacancy levels have soared. An increasingly tight labour market encourages employers to rely on temporary employment placement agencies to fight in an increasingly competitive market. Several countries rank highly in terms of temporary workers with a large short-term job market. In 2022, the Netherlands and Spain have more than 15% of employed people under temporary contracts, according to Eurostat. Industry revenue is expected to shrink by 1.6% in 2024. Revenue is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.5% in the five years through 2029 to €295.4 billion. With 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 and inflation keeps squeezing budgets. 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 implanting policies that may disrupt or expand services. Spain has already introduced reforms that are taking effect to increase permanent positions and remove temporary contracts, while Italy is expanding its voucher scheme to encourage temporary hires.

Unemployment Rate in the United States remained unchanged at 4.20 percent in May. 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.

Revenue in the Temporary Employment Agency industry is anticipated to drop at a compound annual rate of 4% in the five years through 2024 to €236.5 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 - a sizeable blow to revenue in the three years through 2022. Workers on temporary contracts represented a significant chuck of employment losses in all quarters of 2020. According to Eurostat data, temporary employment declined across Europe in the four years from 2017 to 2020, dipping from 13.8% to 11.9%. Since COVID-19 has slowed, companies have resumed hiring as confidence levels have been restored and vacancy levels have soared. An increasingly tight labour market encourages employers to rely on temporary employment placement agencies to fight in an increasingly competitive market. Several countries rank highly in terms of temporary workers with a large short-term job market. In 2022, the Netherlands and Spain have more than 15% of employed people under temporary contracts, according to Eurostat. Industry revenue is expected to shrink by 1.6% in 2024. Revenue is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.5% in the five years through 2029 to €295.4 billion. With 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 and inflation keeps squeezing budgets. 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 implanting policies that may disrupt or expand services. Spain has already introduced reforms that are taking effect to increase permanent positions and remove temporary contracts, while Italy is expanding its voucher scheme to encourage temporary hires.

Graph and download economic data for Job Openings: Total Nonfarm (JTSJOL) from Dec 2000 to Apr 2025 about job openings, vacancy, nonfarm, and USA.

This table provides information about labor supply and demand conditions in occupational labor markets in North Carolina’s eight regions (“Prosperity Zones”) and the statewide total.

A “Career Cluster” is a broad group of occupations. Each Career Cluster contains occupations that require similar knowledge and skills. A “Career Pathway” is a specific group of occupations falling under a broader “Career Cluster”. Specific occupations falling within a given Career Cluster, Career Pathway, and education level can be found on the Star Jobs table.

These data can be used to compare occupational labor markets within a given region. A low supply/demand rate indicates a “tight” labor market—with few jobseekers per job opening—while a high supply/demand rate indicates a “slack” labor market. A tight labor market presents opportunities for jobseekers, but can lead to challenges for employers looking to hire.

These data can also be used to assess the alignment between the labor market and our state’s talent pipeline. “Labor needed” is the amount of additional labor supply needed to attain the statewide or regional supply/demand rate. “Completers” is the average number of individuals completing higher education programs at the University of North Carolina system or the North Carolina Community College System.

Data are updated on an annual basis to accommodate methodology improvements and revisions to the underlying data inputs.

Technical details about methodology can be found here.

Data sources:

Labor supply: LEAD analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey, 2014-2016 average)

Labor demand: LEAD analysis of data from the Conference Board^© and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014-2016 average)

Completers: LEAD analysis of data from the N.C. Common Follow-up System (2010-2015 average)

London had the highest unemployment rate among regions of the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 2025 at ****percent, while for the UK as a whole, the unemployment rate was ****percent. Three other regions also had an unemployment rate higher than the national average, while Northern Ireland had the lowest unemployment rate in this time period, at ****percent. Labor market recovery after COVID-19 After reaching historically low levels of unemployment in 2019, there was a noticeable spike in the UK unemployment rate in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. After peaking at ****percent in late 2020, the unemployment rate declined throughout 2021 and 2022. High levels of job vacancies, resignations, and staff shortages in 2022, were all indicative of a very tight labor market that year, but all these measures have started to point in the direction of a slightly looser labor market. UK's regional economic divide While the North of England has some of the country’s largest cities, the sheer size and economic power of London is much larger than the UK's other urban agglomerations. Partly, due to the size of London, the United Kingdom is one of Europe’s most centralized counties, and there is a clear divide between the economic prospects of north and south England. In 2022, for example, the gross domestic product per head in London was ****** British pounds, far higher than the UK average of *******pounds, and significantly larger than North East England, the region with the lowest GDP per head at *******pounds.

Finland's employment rate has shown a steady upward trend over the past decade, reaching 72.1 percent in 2024. The employment rate increased steadily from around 68 percent in 2015 to 73.6 percent in 2023. Unemployment trends and gender disparities While employment rates have generally improved, unemployment remains a concern. In 2023, Finland reported 204,000 unemployed individuals, an increase of 14,000 from the previous year. The unemployment rate in Finland stood at 7.2 percent in 2023, down from its peak of 9.6 percent in 2015. Notably, a gender gap persists in unemployment, with men experiencing a 1.4 percent higher unemployment rate (7.9 percent) compared to women (6.5 percent) in 2023. Gender equality in the workforce In 2023, Finland demonstrated a unique aspect of its labor market, with women slightly outpacing men in employment rates. Women's employment rate stood at 74.1 percent, compared to 73.1 percent for men. This narrow gap highlights Finland's progress in workplace gender equality, with the country's female employment rate consistently surpassing the EU average. The employment rates across different age groups varied, with the highest rates observed among 45- to 54-year-olds and 35- to 44-year-olds.

The political economy literature has put forward a multitude of hypotheses regarding the drivers of structural reforms, but few, if any, empirically robust findings have emerged thus far. To make progress, we draw a parallel with model uncertainty in the growth literature and provide a new version of the Bayesian averaging of maximum likelihood estimates (BAMLE) technique tailored to binary logit models. Relying on a new database of major past labor and product market reforms in advanced countries, we test a large set of variables for robust correlation with reform in each area. We find widespread support for the crisis-induce-reform hypothesis, as high unemployment and economic crises are robustly correlated to structural reforms. We also find evidence of reform convergence-that is, countries with tighter regulation are more prone to liberalize. Reforms are more likely when other countries also undertake them and when there is formal pressure to implement them. Other robust correlates are more specific to certain areas-for example, international pressure and political factors are most relevant for product market and job protection reforms, respectively.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The project was designed to identify changes in the employment relationship and contractual basis of employment over the 1980's and 1990's, and to examine their consequences for the future of work. The growth and distribution of numerical and functional flexibility, and their impact on employees and the self-employed, were examined. The project also explored changes in work expectations, organisational commitment and work pressure. Human resource practices and control regimes were examined alongside their impact upon work/family balance, work effort and levels of work strain. Contemporary accounts and explanations of the changing nature of work were assessed, in order to understand both continuity and discontinuity in employment relations.

The project used a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methodology. The quantitative survey and related documentation formed the original deposit, and sixteen qualitative interviews and related schedules were added for the second edition of the study.
Main Topics:

Quantitative data
The quantitative dataset records the responses of workers aged 20-60 covering issues of work expectations and employment commitment; previous work history; second jobs; current main job details; organisation of work; information and communications; training, employability and career; benefits and working time; job satisfaction and organisational commitment; job security; personal and family details; prosperity, earnings and hours; employer details; discretion, responsibility and supervision; representation, pay fixing and rewards; type of business, clients, employees and motives; competition, risk assessment and start-up capital; work intensity; job security, perceived alternatives.

Standard Measures
Five- and seven-item Likert scales were used.

Qualitative interview data
The interview material is taken from the preliminary qualitative phase of the project, which was subsequently used to help devise new questions for the survey questionnaire. The interviews highlight a number of issues such as: