The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo: Hiring Trends, Unemployment, and Labor Market Updates

In this episode of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna drill into a quiet but powerful shift in the labor market: the spread of salary ranges in job postings. As of June 2026, states like California, New York, and Colorado now require pay transparency, and the data shows a real impact on how employers advertise and how workers apply. Lucas breaks down a new analysis from Indeed tha...

Most job market coverage focuses on job openings and unemployment. But there's a quieter metric that tells you more about whether the labor market is actually working: the reemployment rate. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the latest JOLTS data and a recent paper from the San Francisco Fed to explain why the share of displaced workers finding new jobs has dropped even as openings have reb...

Lucas and Luna dig into a labor market indicator that often flies under the radar: average employee tenure. With the latest JOLTS data showing 7.6 million job openings in April 2026 and the unemployment rate stuck at 4.3 percent, they explore what rising and falling tenure figures tell us about employer confidence, worker leverage, and the real state of the job market. Lucas breaks down recent Bur...

In this episode of The Job Market Podcast, Lucas and Luna examine a surprising disconnect in the latest JOLTS data: job openings surged to 7.6 million in April, but hires barely budged. They explore what this widening gap signals about employer caution, skill mismatches, and the real friction in today's labor market. Using fresh data from June 2026, they drill into the April JOLTS report and weekl...

In Episode 53 of The Job Market Podcast, Lucas and Luna examine the surprising surge in JOLTS job openings for April 2026, which jumped to 7.62 million from 6.89 million in March — a 10.6% increase that contradicts the narrative of a cooling labor market. They explore what this rebound signals for job seekers and employers, whether it's a genuine shift or a statistical blip driven by industry conc...

Episode 52 of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo digs into the latest JOLTS data showing a sharp rise in job openings — from 6.9 million to 7.6 million between March and April 2026. But Lucas and Luna argue that the national headline masks a deeper story: the geographic concentration of those openings. With the unemployment rate flat at 4.3 percent and small-cap stocks surging 3.1 percent in a we...

Lucas and Luna explore a largely overlooked labor market indicator: the job-to-job transition rate. With JOLTS data showing 7.6 million job openings in April, yet quits rates remaining subdued, the hosts dig into what the churn between jobs reveals about worker confidence and wage growth. They break down why a low transition rate despite high openings may point to a 'sticky' labor market where wor...

In this episode of The Job Market Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the growing gap between job openings and actual hires. Using the latest JOLTS data from April 2026, they break down why openings remain elevated while hiring lags, and what this signals about employer caution and labor market mismatch. They discuss the implications for job seekers and recruiters, and offer a fresh perspective on how...

In this episode of The Job Market Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a fresh labor market indicator: the language employers use in job postings. Analyzing data from the past quarter, they find that a shift in ad language — from 'we need you' to 'we want you' — correlates with shifts in bargaining power. Lucas cites a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston showing that postings emphasizing stab...

Lucas and Luna dig into one of the most underappreciated labor market metrics: the gap between job openings and actual hires. With JOLTS data for April showing 7.6 million openings but only about 5.5 million hires, that gap is wider than it was a year ago—and it's telling a different story than the unemployment rate. They break down what the hires rate signals about employer pickiness, worker leve...

In this episode of The Job Market Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into a new way to interpret JOLTS data — not just counting job openings, but analyzing their quality. With the latest April 2026 JOLTS report showing a sharp rise in openings to 7.62 million from 6.89 million, they discuss how the vacancy yield ratio — the ratio of hires to openings — reveals whether employers are actually filling posi...

Episode 46 of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo digs into a overlooked data point: the share of job postings that explicitly offer remote or hybrid work. With new data showing that only 12 percent of U.S. job postings in May 2026 mentioned full remote work—down from 18 percent two years ago—Lucas and Luna explore what this drop means for workers and employers. They connect the trend to recent JO...

Job openings are up nationally, but not all industries are hiring equally. Lucas and Luna dig into the JOLTS data released for April 2026, which showed total openings rising to 7.6 million from 6.9 million. They focus on the widening gap between sectors like health care and hospitality — which are adding openings — and manufacturing and tech, where openings have actually declined. The hosts explai...

Job openings hit 7.6 million in April, up sharply from 6.9 million. But Lucas and Luna dig into the quality behind that number: which sectors are adding roles, which are just refilling attrition, and how the mix of open jobs tells a different story than the headline. They look at recent JOLTS data, compare it to hiring rates, and discuss what a rising share of vacancies in low-wage industries mean...

This episode of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo explores the rise in involuntary part-time workers – people who want full-time work but can only find part-time hours. Hosts Lucas and Luna break down the latest BLS data showing this metric ticking up even as the unemployment rate holds steady. They explain why this 'hidden unemployment' matters more than the headline jobless rate, how it connec...

In this episode of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna drill into a specific data point from the latest employment cost index: wage growth is diverging sharply by education level. While overall wages grew 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2026, workers with a high school diploma saw just 0.8 percent growth, while those with a bachelor's degree or higher saw 1.8 percent. The hosts...

In this episode of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising labor market signal: the widening gap between job openings and actual hires. Despite JOLTS data showing job openings rising to 7.6 million in April 2026, hires have barely budged. Lucas explains how this 'hiring efficiency ratio' reveals a structural mismatch, not just a hot market. Using real numbers from...

Episode 40 of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo drills into a surprisingly overlooked labor market signal: wage growth is finally accelerating for the lowest-paid workers, while it's flattening for everyone else. Lucas and Luna unpack new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that the 10th percentile of wage earners saw a 6.2% year-over-year increase as of May 2026, while median wage...

Episode 39 of The Job Market Podcast explores a subtle but powerful labor market indicator: how long job vacancies stay open. Lucas and Luna break down why rising vacancy durations, even as job openings increase, can signal employer hesitation and a softening hiring environment. Using the latest JOLTS data showing 7.618 million openings in April 2026—up from 6.887 million—they explain why the mix...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into a labor market signal that often gets overlooked: wage growth varies dramatically by industry, even when the headline average hourly earnings look steady. Using the latest data from May 2026 — where average hourly earnings hit $37.50, up only 0.2% from the prior month — they explore why healthcare and construction wages are climbing faster than retail or le...

Episode 37 of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo examines a surprising labor market signal: the rising share of college graduates working in jobs that don't require a degree. As of May 2026, the unemployment rate sits at 4.3 percent, but underemployment—especially among recent graduates—tells a deeper story. Lucas and Luna break down the latest data, including the gap between job openings (7.6 mi...

Lucas and Luna dive into the quits rate — the percentage of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs — and why this seemingly niche data point is flashing a warning light for the May 2026 labor market. With the economy adding only modest payroll gains and unemployment flat at 4.3%, Lucas argues that a declining quits rate signals falling worker confidence and a potential slowdown in wage growth. Lun...

Episode 35 of The Job Market Podcast explores what the rise in involuntary part-time employment tells us about the true health of the labor market in June 2026. Lucas and Luna break down the latest data: unemployment at 4.3% with job openings surging to 7.6 million, yet the number of people working part-time because they can't find full-time work remains stubbornly high. They discuss why this metr...

In this episode of The Job Market Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a data point that gets surprisingly little attention: how long workers stay at their jobs, and what shifts in median tenure tell us about the labor market's health. With the unemployment rate stuck at 4.3 percent and job openings rebounding to 7.6 million in April, the hosts look beneath the headline numbers to find tha...

With job openings rising to 7.6 million but the S&P 500 down 2% in a week, Lucas and Luna dig into a 2026 JOLTS data point that few are talking about: the share of remote-friendly job openings. They explore how employers are quietly pulling back remote listings even as workers demand flexibility, and what this means for hiring rates and wage growth. With the unemployment rate stuck at 4.3% and hou...