Soft landing in the job market ‘in jeopardy,’ economist says. Here’s where jobs are still growing – NBC New York

• Nonfarm payroll jobs rose by just 114,000 in July, down from 179,000 in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
• The agency reported that the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, the highest level since October 2021.
• If you’re looking for work, some sectors are still hiring. Here’s where to start.

Job seekers have been struggling in the job market for some time now — and with good reason.

“The soft landing for the US job market is in jeopardy,” Nick Bunker, director of North American economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab, said in a statement Friday.

“Yellow flags have been showing up in the labor market data for the past few months, but now the flags are turning red,” Bunker said.

While some sectors of the market, such as information services, reported a loss of 20,000 jobs in Friday’s jobs report, other employment sectors may still have “Workers Wanted” signs hanging on their doors.

If you’re currently struggling in the job market, here’s information on which sectors are hiring and how you can use your skills to change industries and find employment in a different industry, according to expert advice.

“Warning sign” for entry-level workers

U.S. job growth slowed more than expected and the unemployment rate rose, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The number of nonfarm payroll workers rose by just 114,000 in July, down from 179,000 in June, the agency said Friday. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, its highest level since October 2021.

A key factor in the July unemployment rate was an increase in “jobless unemployment,” or temporarily laid-off workers, Bunker said. That could happen in the manufacturing sector, he said.

“They are unemployed, but their connection to their old employer has not been completely severed,” Bunker said. “They are much more likely to find a job in the next six months than other unemployed workers.”

Young workers under the age of 24, who face intense competition, are also driving the unemployment rate, said Alí Bustamante, a labor economist and director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at the Roosevelt Institute, a liberal think tank based in New York.

Recruitment is still ongoing in these sectors

“The only steady job market position over the past 18 months has been in government, healthcare, and, surprisingly, employment,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

According to Bunker, a small percentage of the private sector creates jobs.

“It’s not like most sectors are creating new jobs right now,” he said.

Health care and social assistance took the lead in job creation, adding 64,000 openings, according to the BLS. Other growing sectors were construction (25,000); leisure and hospitality (23,000); public administration (17,000); transportation and warehousing (14,000); wholesale trade (4,000); retail trade (4,000); and manufacturing (1,000).

In some industries, “employer demand is insatiable”

Economists say optimizing the job search process in a growing sector can be difficult due to cyclical market fluctuations.

But if you were to change careers, “healthcare makes sense,” Bunker said.

In some cases, that may mean returning to school, Pollak said.

“We see an extremely high demand for registered nurses and nursing assistants at every level of health care,” she said.

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Skilled trades training is also in high demand, she added. Some fields are seeing high demand, especially those with an aging workforce and a wave of retirements, as well as industries that are unlikely to be disrupted by AI automation, Pollak explained.

“It is in the case of highly skilled professions, such as electricians or heating, ventilation and air conditioning technicians, that we see insatiable demand from employers and rising wages,” she added.

To change direction, evaluate “transferable skills”

As the job market weakens, workers may find it difficult to find employment opportunities in their preferred industries, Bustamante noted.

He added that a good start could be to look at other professions and industries that offer similar jobs to those we are looking for.

For example, “you’re an IT worker and you want to work at a startup,” Bustamante said. Finding opportunities there can be difficult, but perhaps looking into the healthcare industry or government, which “also recruits quite strongly,” could be fruitful, he said.

It’s really not just about looking at industries, but “really looking at professions and where those professions or opportunities are really present right now,” Bustamante said.

Pollak agreed: “Definitely look at things where you have skills that are transferable.”

Become a better competitor by customizing your resume, reviewing job postings, applying immediately, and remember that “AI can be your best friend,” whether it’s helping you customize your resume, prepare for interviews or discover new roles, she said.