Businesses are required to raise wages to attract good people, which again is good for employees, but not for employers. And it also tends to drive inflation up, which is a concern for the Federal Reserve. |
We're seeing wage pressure throughout the U.S., so the Fed probably will keep raising (short-term interest) rates, to 5 percent, and possibly even higher. |
We've gained about 44,000 new jobs over the last 12 months, which is actually better than the growth rate we averaged during the late 1990s. We averaged 38,000 new jobs annually between 1994 and 2000. So things are pretty good right now on the job growth front. |