You'd think there'd be more layoffs by now 🤔

A critical labor market metric to watch as the economy slows 🔎

Layoff activity remains very low.

Despite months of anecdotes about layoffs, the official aggregate data continues to paint a picture of historically benign layoff activity.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released Tuesday, the layoff rate (i.e., layoffs as a percentage of total employment) stood at a very low 0.9% in June.

“This is the 16th straight month that the layoff rate has been below its pre-pandemic bottom,“ Nick Bunker, director of research at Indeed Hiring Lab, observed.

This is welcome news, as many other metrics show that the economy has been cooling dramatically.

That said, some aspects of the labor market have been moderating.