Inflation accelerated for the third straight month.
The consumer price index rose 2.9% year-over-year in December, matching the consensus expectation.
The Federal Reserve is expected not to cut interest rates later this month.
Inflation sped up in December as expected, marking the third consecutive month of acceleration.
The consumer price index, an inflation measure, increased 2.9% over the year this past December. That matches the forecast increase and is above November's year-over-year increase of 2.7%.
While the 2.9% is the highest rate since July, it falls short of the roughly 3.1% in January 2024. Inflation was around or above 3% for the first half of the year; it slowed from the year's peak of 3.5% in March to 2.4% in September.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 3.2% over the year in December, below the expected forecast of 3.3%, which would have matched November's rate. The rate had been 3.3% for three consecutive months before December.
The year-over-year percent change in the shelter index continued to slow. The shelter index increased 4.6% over the year in December, down from the 6% year-over-year increase in January 2024.
The CPI climbed 0.4% over the month in December, matching the forecast and above November's 0.3% increase. BLS said in a news release that energy contributed more than 40% of that increase.
The gasoline index rose 4.4% over the month, higher than the previous 0.6% increase. The fuel oil index saw a similar story β it increased 4.4% in December after rising 0.6% in November.
Core CPI rose 0.2% from November to December. It was expected to continue rising by 0.3%, as it had done for four straight months before December.
"The takeaway for consumers is that the pressure on household budgets is unrelenting," Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate, told Business Insider.
The Federal Open Market Committee could consider the new data in its interest rate decision at the end of the month. After three consecutive cuts, there likely won't be another interest rate cut just yet.
Traders have been expecting the Federal Open Market Committee to hold the Fed's target rate steady at 2025's first scheduled meeting. CME FedWatch, which indicates what traders expect to happen to rates based on market activity, showed before the CPI release a 97% chance the Fed's target rate would be unchanged. That probability was little changed after the release.
"The consumer reaction is going to be a lot different than the market reaction in the sense that the market is going to look at the improvement in the core and take that as good news and rejoice," McBride said. "But consumers' household budgets are based on the headline, and the food and energy costs are both rising at a faster than desired pace and pressuring already tight household budgets."
Fed chair Jerome Powell said at a press conference on December 18 that "the Committee will assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks" when figuring out any additional changes to its target rate.
"We know that reducing policy restraint too fast or too much could hinder progress on inflation," Powell said after the most recent interest-rate decision. "At the same time, reducing policy restraint too slowly or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment."
The recent jobs report, published last Friday, showed job growth exceeded the forecast in December, while unemployment fell from 4.2% in November to 4.1% in December. Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said the labor market report "validates the stance that we've seen from the Fed recently."
Indeed released its list of the best jobs for the year based on pay and other factors.
The career site ranked the job list based on the share of postings on its platform.
Structural engineers, attorneys, and physicians were part of the top 10.
Career site Indeed found that if you're looking for work as a veterinarian, civil engineer, or structural engineer, 2025 could be your year.
Indeed published a list of the best jobs for the year based on growth in job postings, flexibility, and typical salary. To be included in the ranking, jobs needed a median annual salary of at least $75,000, at least 5% of their postings had to have been for hybrid or remote roles, and they had to have had job-posting growth on Indeed of at least 20% between December 2021 and this past December.
"I think we do see a rather large amount of variety on this list, and although they may be somewhat technical or some require more specialized education and training, it's not always a catchall," Gabrielle Davis, a career trends expert at Indeed, said. "There are usually different avenues or different ways to approach some of these different fields as well if you're either interested in breaking out into them or even career changing."
Indeed's post about the results said, "healthcare and engineering endure as dominant sectors." Physicians had a median salary of $225,000, and demand based on Indeed job postings has increased.
"It's kind of showing the need for the workforce to balance both deep technical knowledge and the ability to tackle evolving societal needs," Davis told Business Insider.
Below are the top 10 best jobs, along with their median posted salaries on Indeed, growth in job postings between December 2021 and this past December, and the share of postings that offer remote or hybrid work. Indeed ranked the jobs by the share of postings on its platform.
10. Structural engineer
Akacin Phonsawat/Getty Images
Salary: $110,725
Growth in job postings: 127%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 18.8%
"I think one of the biggest trends that pop out is that we're seeing this resurgence and really strong representation of more traditional roles like engineers, physicians, attorneys, nurses," Davis said about the results.
Structural engineer is one of the engineering jobs that made the list. Davis said this job plays a "key role in the infrastructure of different cities or buildings, whether it's more on a corporate versus residential area."
9. Fire engineer
Narai Chal/Getty Images
Salary: $110,000
Growth in job postings: 136%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 12.4%
8. Clinical psychologist
Fiordaliso/Getty Images
Salary: $118,597
Growth in job postings: 75%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 34.6%
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said people typically need a doctoral or professional degree for entry into clinical and counseling psychologist jobs. BLS also said there could be different licensing requirements by state to become a psychologist.
"Most psychologists need supervised experience to qualify for licensure, which may include an internship or postdoctoral training," BLS said. "These experiences provide an opportunity for prospective psychologists to use their knowledge in an applied setting."
7. Territory manager
VioletaStoimenova/Getty Images
Salary: $80,348
Growth in job postings: 43%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 19.9%
Davis said this job typically involves overseeing sales in a specific area or region, and may also help with training workers and guiding customer service.
"They'll often work with different departments to help increase the sales and revenue," Davis said.
6. Attorney
Chris Ryan/Getty Images
Salary: $145,168
Growth in job postings: 90%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 28.6%
This typically high-paying job usually requires several years of law school.
"Newly hired attorneys usually start as associates and work on teams with more experienced lawyers," the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
5. Estimator
Abdullah Durmaz/Getty Images
Salary: $99,592
Growth in job postings: 51%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 6.8%
4. Civil engineer
Me 3645 Studio/Getty Images
Salary: $100,872
Growth in job postings: 104%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 12.2%
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said this job typically requires a bachelor's degree for entry.
"Employers usually prefer to hire graduates of civil engineering programs accredited by ABET," the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. "Some students attend schools that have cooperative-education programs (also known as co-ops); others participate in internships."
3. Physician
MoMo Productions/Getty Images
Salary: $225,000
Growth in job postings: 76%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 5.3%
Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, physicians typically require a doctoral or professional degree, and the typical on-the-job training needed for competency is participating in internships or residency programs.
2. Sales representative
VioletaStoimenova/Getty Images
Salary: $182,487
Growth in job postings: 76%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 15.7%
"I always consider one of the greatest entry-level point jobs for folks who are either looking to break into more of the corporate world or career changers," Davis said about sales representatives. "I think it's really common to see a lot of folks that might have been teachers in a past life, for example, switching over to sales."
1. Veterinarian
Monty Rakusen/Getty Images
Salary: $139,999
Growth in job postings: 124%
Mentions of remote/hybrid in job postings: 7.3%
The increase in pet ownership is impacting some Americans' spending and could also be partly behind the demand for veterinarians. Davis said this job has seen substantial growth over the past few years, based on Indeed's data.
"Similar to mirroring the aging human population, there's also this growing and aging population for pets as well, which may kind of contribute to some of the different advancements that we're seeing in veterinary medicine and furthering the need for this care," Davis said.
Middle managers have a vital job in the workplace.
Some companies have scaled back on middle management.
Workplace experts shared why middle managers can be essential to a business's success.
US businesses are betting that they can thrive with fewer middle managers. They could come to regret it.
Some business leaders think scaling back middle-manager roles β a trend called the "Great Flattening" β could help them cut costs and operate more efficiently. Managers and workplace experts, however, told Business Insider that middle managers can play several important roles, including executing the goals of upper management, addressing workplace issues, and boosting workers' morale and performance.
"They really do form the connection between the company's strategy and execution by workers on the front lines of the business," Daniel Zhao, the lead economist at Glassdoor, said. "Without an effective layer of middle management, you aren't going to get strategy translating into results."
BI's Aki Ito reported that some companies had found that employing fewer middle managers could significantly strain their operations. Workplace experts and managers described to BI what makes middle managers important, why companies should invest in training them, and the challenges of these roles.
Why workplace experts think middle managers are valuable
Bryan Hancock, a McKinsey partner who has written about management, said middle managers are critical for an organization's overall performance. Hancock also emphasized their role in employees' performance and well-being, including helping workers grow in their careers.
"Managers are critical in making individuals feel like they belong, feel understood, and connecting all of that messiness of our personal life to our work life," Hancock said.
Middle managers can be a key part of building up the entire workforce. "Companies have to invest in the skillset and the development of these managers in order to avoid certain pitfalls that can ultimately impact revenue generation and career development and growth," Jessica Hardeman, a senior director of attraction and engagement at the career site Indeed, said, adding "heightened emotional maturity," digital fluency, and adaptability were attributes of a good manager.
While Zhao, Hardeman, and Hancock say managers are critical to a workplace, the job market for middle managers has cooled down.
An analysis of job postings provided to Business Insider by Revelio Labs, a workforce analytics provider, found opportunities for middle-manager roles declined by 42% from April 2022 to October 2024. Opportunities for junior employees, associate workers, and senior leadership roles fell by 15%, 17%, and 25%, respectively.
With fewer opportunities in middle management and a cooler job market expected in 2025, middle-manager job seekers are competing for other roles.
"Career setbacks have created a traffic jam at the bottom of the ladder, with middle managers now competing in the same pool of jobs as frontline managers and experienced employees in the same pool as new grads," a Glassdoor report published in November said.
In addition to the cooler demand for middle managers, the job has become more challenging in recent years. Managers may have had to handle more work because of fewer hires, tried to get people to comply with return-to-office policies, and been the bearers of unfortunate compensation and career mobility news with scalebacks in pay bumps and promotions.
Workplace experts said managers should receive adequate training to help make their jobs a bit more manageable. Zhao said companies should invest in training the next leaders to set them up for long-running success in this step of the career ladder.
Why managers think they are valuable
Managers who talked to BI also said middle management does a lot for the workplace.
Tsvetelina Nasteva, a human resources manager for Casinoreviews.net, said the idea that middle managers just deal with the "day-to-day stuff" upper management doesn't have time for oversimplifies what they do.
"Our jobs are so much bigger than that," said Nasteva, who's in her 30s. "We're the ones driving innovation, shaping culture, engaging talent, and providing the insights that help steer the ship."
Kyle, a former manager, said he thought middle managers could be valuable for businesses β but often weren't given the power and freedom to fully execute their job responsibilities.
"I think the great lie told to middle managers, at least many of them, is that they can be arbiters of change and will be free to mold their teams and processes in their own style β except then that's not how they're treated," said Kyle, who asked for partial anonymity because of a fear of professional repercussions.
He said that instead, some middle managers were largely tasked with things like time-sheet approvals, disciplinary conversations, and running meetings β administrative work upper management doesn't have time for.
Tiago Pita, a brand and e-commerce director in the UK, said he decided to step into a middle-management role because he wanted to shape his team's direction while still being involved in day-to-day operations. He said juggling these two priorities is what makes middle managers valuable.
"We're the ones translating high-level goals into actionable tasks, ensuring that our teams stay on track and motivated," said Pita, who's in his 30s. "Middle managers also play a big role in sustaining company culture, as we work closely with team members and address their questions, struggles, and achievements on a more personal level than upper management can."
What has your middle management experience been like? Have you quit a middle manager role or don't plan to become a manager? Reach out to these reporters at [email protected] and [email protected].
The US economy added 256,000 jobs in December, more than the forecast of 164,000.
Unemployment was expected to hold steady at 4.2% but fell to 4.1%.
Economists expect 2025 to be a tough labor market for job searchers.
The US labor market ended 2024 on a high note, adding 256,000 jobs in December, above the forecast of 164,000.
Unemployment unexpectedly dropped from 4.2% in November to 4.1% in December. The consensus expectation was that the rate would hold steady.
"We are very proud of our ability to leave with such a strong labor market," Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su told BI. "People have come into the labor market and are looking for jobs β and they're finding them."
Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said there were some concerns in the job market at the start of 2024, but the data indicated signs of equilibrium in the second half.
"In the first half of 2024, we saw unemployment start rising, and it was a pretty good cause for concern," Stahle said. "But then in the back half of the year, we've seen that the unemployment rate has really stabilized."
Labor force participation remained at 62.5% in December. The employment-population ratio increased from 59.8% in November to 60% in December.
Wage growth cooled slightly. Average hourly earnings increased to $35.69 in December, a 3.9% increase from a year earlier. Earnings rose by 4.0% in October and November.
Many sectors saw job growth, especially in healthcare. However, manufacturing, mining and logging, and utilities lost jobs in December.
CME FedWatch, which shows what traders think will happen to interest rates based on market activity, indicated after the jobs report a 97% chance that rates wouldn't be changed in the first scheduled Federal Open Market Committee meeting of 2025 on January 28 and 29, up from around 93% before the jobs report. There are eight scheduled FOMC meetings in 2025, but the Committee's members signaled in December that the Fed plans only two cuts this year.
In a press conference after the December meeting β where the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points β Fed chair Jerome Powell said that "the labor market is now looser than pre-pandemic" and is gradually still cooling down. He added further cooling isn't needed to reach the Fed's 2% inflation target.
"We're starting to see evidence that the Fed's 100 basis points of cuts are translating into real improvements, improvements in the real economy," Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said. "While the labor market often lags behind quite substantially, it seems like perhaps the labor market rebound is starting to take hold."
Economists predict the job market in 2025 will be challenging for job searchers, and employers might be cautious in their hiring plans during the start of the year.
"While business sentiment has picked up somewhat since the election, there is still a lot of uncertainty about future policy changes that will likely make businesses hesitant to ramp up hiring, particularly in the first half of 2025," Dante DeAntonio, a labor economist with Moody's Analytics, said in a written statement in 2024.
The new data could provide a little more optimism. Stahle said even if the labor market is cooler than in recent years, "we're really going into the year with a decent amount of momentum."
A Los Angeles firefighter battles the Palisades fire
Reuters
Thousands of LA County homeowners face a volatile home insurance market.
In recent months, State Farm β California's largest home insurer β dropped thousands of policyholders.
Some have turned to the state's insurer of last resort.
Thousands of California homeowners at risk due to the Los Angeles County fires find themselves exposed in a volatile home insurance market.
Last year, California's largest home insurer βΒ State Farm βΒ canceled thousands of policyholders' plans across LA County, including the Pacific Palisades and parts of Santa Monica and Calabasas, that are under evacuation orders and warnings as the fires rage. Nearly 70% of State Farm policyholders in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood were dropped by the company beginning in July 2024.
The following table shows the ZIP codes that were under evacuation orders or warnings as of Wednesday afternoon that had the highest rate of nonrenewals from State Farm last year.
Several other major insurers have dramatically restricted their coverage across California in recent years, citing surging costs from more frequent and intense disasters coupled with rising home repair costs and inflation.
Thousands of LA County homeowners who haven't been able to obtain private insurance have joined the ranks of those covered by the state's insurer of last resort βΒ the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan. The FAIR plan is regulated by the state government and backed by a slew of private insurance companies. But its premiums tend to be much higher than typical private insurers and its coverage is often more restricted.
This table shows how FAIR insurance coverage has changed in the above ZIP codes between 2023 and 2024.
As private insurers have stepped back in recent years, the number of residential FAIR plan holders across the state jumped 123% between September 2020 and September 2024. The FAIR plan's dollar-value residential exposure surged from $271 billion in September 2023 to $431 billion in September 2024.
It's not clear how many homeowners impacted by the LA County fires are uninsured. Most mortgage lenders require homeowners to purchase insurance, and some require additional insurance for specific disasters, including fires.
Some major home insurers, including Farmer's β the second-largest in California β have recently begun to expand their offerings in California after the state announced new regulations requiring insurers to cover a certain percentage of homes vulnerable to fire in exchange for allowing them to use future risk modeling to calculate premiums.
In 2023, California had the fourth-highest home insurance nonrenewal rate among states, according to a recently released Senate Budget Committee report. Six of the top 10 counties in the country with the highest rates of nonrenewals by large home insurers in 2023 were in California, the report found.
But rising home insurance costs and rates of dropped policies are nationwide problems. The National Bureau of Economic Research recently reported that average home insurance premiums spiked by 13%, adjusted for inflation, between 2020 and 2023. The share of home insurance policies from large insurers that weren't renewed increased last year in 46 states, the Senate report found. And more than 200 US counties saw their non-renewal rates spike threefold between 2018 and 2023.
Areas more vulnerable to disasters, including flooding, wildfires, and hurricanes, have seen the biggest spikes in premiums and dropped policies.
"Our number one priority right now is the safety of our customers, agents and employees impacted by the fires and assisting our customers in the midst of this tragedy," a representative for State Farm told BI.
A representative from the California FAIR Plan Association also told BI in a statement that the insurer is "prepared" to handle the wildfire impact, and "has payment mechanisms in place, including reinsurance, to ensure all covered claims are paid."
Representatives for Farmer's did not respond for comment.
Have you been dropped by your home insurance company or are you facing a steep premium increase? Email this reporter to share your story: [email protected].
Business Insider looked at the purchasing power of a six-figure salary in different Texas cities.
We adjusted $100,000 for Texas' 25 metro areas using cost of living data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Based on 2023 data, the purchasing power of $100,000 would be $102,438 in the Austin metro area.
One of Texas' big draws for the thousands of Americans who move there each year is its relatively low cost of living.
However, purchasing power isn't the same across Texas metros. If you had $100,000 in Austin, it wouldn't have the same value as in Longview, Corpus Christi, and other places in the state.
To compare people's purchasing power depending on where they are, Business Insider calculated what $100,000 means for each Texas metropolitan statistical area when adjusted by its regional price parity. That gives a sense of how much $100,000 at national average prices would actually buy in those cities based on their local cost of living.
"Whether you are considering a job offer in a more expensive city, looking for an affordable place to retire, or are just curious about how price levels compare between different parts of the country, our regional price parities can help," Vipin Arora, the director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, said in a December post.
Texas has longbeen an attractive state for movers. Census Bureau data showed Texas had the largest positive net domestic migration β or the biggest number of people moving in from elsewhere in the US minus people leaving Texas for another state βfrom July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, among states.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that many kinds of healthcare workers make over $100,000 on average in Texas. Ship engineers, postsecondary business teachers, and management analysts are a few of the other jobs that make over $100,000 on average in the Lone Star State.
The Dallas metro area had the highest regional price parity among the 25 Texas metros. Given the regional price parity for Dallas was 103.3 in 2023, that would mean the adjusted value of $100,000 at average national prices equals around $96,800 in that city.
Below is what $100,000 is worth in cities across Texas, ranked from lowest adjusted value to highest. We also included the2023 regional price parity for each metro in Texas.
Economists talked to Business Insider about what they expect to happen in the job market this year.
Getting a white-collar job could still be hard, and more people may have to return to the office.
Changes under a new administration could affect hiring and turnover.
Getting a job was tough for many Americans in 2024. If a career shift is your New Year's resolution for 2025, you might still find it challenging.
Job growth has slowed, unemployment has been historically low but rising, and unemployed Americans are staying jobless for longer.
"Heading into 2025, it is going to be a little harder for job seekers across the board," Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said in December. "We've seen that just about every category on Indeed has come down year over year in terms of the number of job postings. So that suggests that employer demand has cooled."
Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, described the labor market in 2024 as unusually stable and quiet. She pointed to steadily low layoffs and a drop in voluntary turnover amid cooler hiring.
"The stasis is rather abnormal, and I think it's going to make it tough for workers who are looking for new opportunities to find them," Richardson said.
Here's what economists expect when it comes to finding a job, wages and promotions, and other aspects of work life in 2025.
A new administration could bring uncertainty
One reason it's still going to be hard for job searchers to land a job is employers may want to see what policies President-elect Donald Trump pursues early in his second term.
"While business sentiment has picked up somewhat since the election, there is still a lot of uncertainty about future policy changes that will likely make businesses hesitant to ramp up hiring, particularly in the first half of 2025," Dante DeAntonio, a labor economist with Moody's Analytics, said in a written statement.
A potential crackdown on immigration could affect industries with a higher share of immigrant workers, like the construction sector. DeAntonio said those industries "may find themselves scrambling for workers if material changes to immigration policy are enacted." DeAntonio noted the leisure and hospitality industry and agriculture as two others that havehistorically depended on immigrant laborand could be affected by changes.
The new administration could also affect government workers and job seekers. Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, is figuring out suggestions for cutting federal spending and regulations.
"A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal.
Employment growth in the federal government has cooled down. Between November 2022 and November 2023, the federal government added 77,000 jobs but just 49,000 the following year.
"Depending on how things go with the new administration, we may see a lot of government workers either losing their jobs or quitting," Brian Rose, senior US economist for UBS's chief investment office, said. "This could be an opportunity for private sector companies to pick up some skilled workers."
Getting a job in a white-collar industry may still be a challenge
Richardson said white-collar job seekers, like those searching for tech roles, should be ready to network and for it to take more time to get a job.
"It's not that these jobs don't exist, and it's not that there's not opportunities out there, but the opportunities that people had gotten used to prior to 2024 have slowed," Richardson said. "This economy coming out of the pandemic really thrived on tech jobs."
DeAntonio said white-collar industries "are likely to remain at the top of the list as difficult for job seekers to enter as those firms have been some of the most cautious in terms of hiring."
Stahle said there are still a lot of jobs available in construction and manufacturing, even if opportunities have slowed from a year or two ago. However, Stahle said software development, marketing, and other knowledge-work jobs "have been hit much harder" by the job market slowdown.
"I think it's going to continue to be kind of a divergence in the labor market where some job seekers will have an easy time next year, albeit a little harder than last year, and then some are going to have a harder time than they've had in a few years," Stahle said in a 2024 interview.
Healthcare, manufacturing, and construction will probably be good places to look for work
Rose said the difficulty of landing work depends on someone's job experience and field of work. While hiring might continue to be rough in finance and tech, construction is one industry that needs workers.
Rose said construction and skilled workers for smaller companies are in high demand. He also thinks lower-paying jobs are in demand.
"If you're in healthcare or the skilled trades, you're in the right place," Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said. "If you're anywhere else, you might want to reevaluate your career choices and look into re-skilling and broadening your search."
Healthcare has had large job growth relative to other industries and has largely maintained its growth rate even as broader hiring has slowed.
Richardson sees a hopeful outlook for the interest-rate-sensitive manufacturing sector as the Federal Reserve has cut rates in its last few meetings.
"As we're seeing the Fed continue to try to draw down rates, manufacturing might benefit from that, and new sources of technology and tech advancement, that leads to more hiring in the sector," Richardson said.
More workers might have to head back to the office
AT&TΒ said in December that it wants its office workers fully back to the workplace. Amazon also told employees they need to fully work from the office, but it has delayed the January 2 deadline for some.
"We are likely to see a continuation of the mixed bag of workplace policy changes that occurred this year," DeAntonio said. "Some firms will undoubtedly make a stronger return to office push, especially now as workers seem less inclined to switch jobs as they have in recent years."
Despite those moves, the share of white-collar employees working outside the office has risen. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that 46% of management, business, and financial operations occupations worked remotely at least part of the time in November 2024, up from 41% a year prior.
Real wage growth could be strong this year
Stahle said the "outlook for raises and compensation is promising." However, he also said, "we don't want to see wages necessarily pick up to a point where they could fuel inflation."
Stahle said hiring needs to pick up, particularly for roles that haven't had robust growth, to have a soft landing, where inflation slows to the Fed's 2% target while unemployment and layoffs stay steady.
"We want to see people continuing to have decent wage growth, especially wage growth that keeps their purchasing power up and above inflation," Stahle said.
The year-over-year increase in average hourly earnings was 4% in November, down from the growth rate in 2022 and the roughly 4.4% increase at the start of the year, although it's outpaced cooling inflation since mid-2023. Rose thinks wage growth will likely moderate further.
"There's just better balance in the labor market, so less need for companies to raise their wages to attract workers," Rose said about the current slowdown.
However, DeAntonio said if immigration policy changes occur, the labor market may become even tighter, "which will increase leverage for employees in seeking bigger pay increases."
The job market may be unfavorable for new college graduates
Stahle said the job market could be challenging for young people. The unemployment rate for recent college graduates aged 22 to 27 has been ticking up, but it falls short of the rate for those without a degree in this age group.
Rose thinks "recent college grads who went to some private college and spent a lot of money and looking for a high-paying, entry-level job to justify that investment" are having a tough time in the job market.
Are you worried about the job market in 2025, making a career change, or have an interesting career story to tell? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].
Alcohol consumption trends have been on the decline for years, even before the US Surgeon General said alcohol is a leading cause of cancer.
semenovp/Getty Images
The US Surgeon General released a report directly linking alcohol to cancer.
A BI analysis found that spending on most kinds of alcohol has declined β especially among young adults.
It's reflective of Gen Z's shifting habits when it comes to alcohol consumption.
By the time the US Surgeon General dropped its report linking alcohol to cancer on Friday, Americans had already been curbing their spending on booze over the last several decades β especially young people.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in his latest advisory that alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the US, following tobacco usage and obesity. He recommended updating warnings on alcohol packages to raise awareness of the harmful effects of drinking. However, doing so requires an act of Congress.
"For individuals, be aware that cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol," Murthy wrote in a post on X on Friday. "As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk."
Do you plan to change your drinking habits in response to the Surgeon General's recommendation? Tell us why in this survey.
Many Americans have already been cutting back. Business Insider analyzed alcohol spending data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to get a sense of how alcoholic beverage consumption has changed. It showed that spending has decreased over the past few decades, especially among Americans under 25.
With spirits and beer in particular, Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows that personal spending as a share of personal consumption expenditures has dropped since 1959. Spending on wine as a share of personal spending, meanwhile, has seen a small uptick.
Additionally, expenditure data adjusted to 2023 dollars using the consumer price index shows that younger adults under 25 years old spent less on average than this age group years prior. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that spending on alcoholic beverages by Americans under 25 is similar to people aged 75 and over.
The decrease in alcohol spending among young people is reflective of Gen Z and millennials' shifting habits and priorities compared to other generations. A Gallup survey from 2023 found that 62% of adults under 35 said they drink, compared to 72% two decades ago, with some of them citing health concerns as a key reason.
Gen Z is also favoringΒ more active settingsΒ like fitness groups to socialize instead of drinking, marking a shift in younger Americans' behaviors.
It's unclear how the alcohol industry will respond to Murthy's latest report. However, warning labels on alcoholic drinks have not been updated since the '80s, and Murthy urged Congress to take action by updating labels and revising recommended consumption limits to prevent cancer among the US population.
Minimum wage workers in 21 states are set to get a raise in January.
Dusan Stankovic/Getty Images
Minimum-wage workers in California, Vermont, and 19 other states will earn more at the start of 2025.
Missouri voters passed a referendum in the November election raising the state's minimum wage.
An analysis found over 9 million workers will likely be affected by the coming minimum wage increases.
Workers in 21 states are set to start the new year with a raise.
When the clock strikes midnighton New Year's Eve, minimum wages across the nation are set to be hiked. In a few states, the minimum wage will rise to $15 an hour, a longtime target rate for advocates.
Hover over the states in the map below to see how much minimum wages will change.
Of the 21 states that will see an increase, 14 are subject to inflation-based adjustments as part of existing minimum wage laws, per a report from the left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute. The EPI report estimated that full-time impacted workers in those states will see their annual earnings increase by $420 on average.
In the November election, Missouri voters approved a referendum to increase the state's minimum wage to $13.75 on January 1, 2025, and then to $15 in 2026. Some small business owners in the state are reportedly already bracing for higher costs, and business groups there have already filed a legal petition to attempt to overturn the new proposition. Recent research has found that independent businesses are, on average, able to shoulder minimum wage increases β although higher minimum wages can lead to smaller restaurants shuttering.
A 2022 ballot initiative in Nebraska has the state on a similar trajectory, with workers set to get an increase to $13.50 in January 2025 and then a hike to $15 in 2026.
Alaska will increase the state's minimum wage to $11.91 on January 1 because of an inflation adjustment. Minimum wage workers will get another raise on July 1 because of a ballot measure in the recent election. The state minimum wage will rise to $13 in the summer, $14 the following July, and $15 in 2027. Its minimum wage would be adjusted for inflation after that.
Delaware and Virginia are the only states in the South that will see minimum wage increases at the start of the year. Five states in the South don't have minimum wage laws, and Georgia's minimum wage is below the federal minimum wage of $7.25, based on data from the Department of Labor. That means those states default to the federal minimum.
An analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found that over 9 million workers are set to directly and indirectly benefit from increased state minimum wages.
Out of those workers, just over 3 million are directly set to see their pay go up. Even more will be affected indirectly. Over 6 million workers are within 15% of the new minimum wage floor β which, per EPI, means their employers are likely to adjust their wages to compete for talent.
In addition to state minimum wage increases happening in almost two dozen states on January 1, the National Employment Law Project said 48 cities and counties will also have minimum wage increases that day.
Nationally, the federal minimum wage has sat untouched at $7.25 since 2009. President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he could be open to changing that number, telling "Meet the Press" that he would consider raising the federal rate β although he noted that the cost of living across the country varies, making it difficult to enact one flat rate.
Mike Draper, the owner and founder of screen-printing and retail business RAYGUN, whose 10 stores include a location in Missouri, told Business Insider that minimum wage increases β like the one recently approved by that state's voters βcould help bolster workers' spending power. Draper already pays his workers a starting wage of $15.50 an hour.
"This is different from a tax increase, or a rent increase, or a cost of goods increase. None of that money is going to go directly back into your community, for the most part," Draper said, adding: "Increases to worker pay is going to be felt immediately."
American Kathleen O'Donnell said she felt at home the first time she visited Greece.
She moved away from the US in 2019 before settling full-time in Greece in 2022.
She likes Greece's food quality but doesn't like how car-centric the country can be.
Kathleen O'Donnell, 39, doesn't think she will ever move back to the US.
O'Donnell said she felt right at home when she visited Greece during an almost yearlong trip to Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia in 2018 and 2019. After moving away from the US later on in 2019, she decided to be in Greece as much as she possibly could. She's been living in the country full time since applying for a digital nomad residence permit in May 2022.
"The longer that I live here, the happier I am, the more I love it, the more that I feel at home, and the more that I feel really sure that I found the perfect place for me to live right now," O'Donnell said.
She still loves visiting the US. Even though she's unsure if she will live in Greece for the rest of her life, she said it's unlikely she'll return permanently to the States.
"I just don't think that it has the quality of life that I could find in most other places these days," O'Donnell, who has been to around 30 countries, said. "The lack of sense of community is really what gets me. It's a very isolated society."
O'Donnell said she thinks it's an exciting time for people interested in moving to a different country because many places, like Brazil, Italy, and Thailand, offer digital nomad visas.
Kathleen O'Donnell said she has "a great quality of life" in Greece.
Kathleen O'Donnell
What O'Donnell likes and dislikes about Greece
O'Donnell said she likes the quality and affordability of food in Greece, including the produce at her local farmers market. She said the market can be noisy, but she enjoys getting the chance to become familiar with the people there.
"That sense of community is another pro," O'Donnell said. "Even in Athens, which is a very large city, it feels like a series of small villages. You really get to know people around you."
She said she had become friends with many of her neighbors since moving to her apartment earlier this year.
O'Donnell also thinks it's easy to travel elsewhere, given Athens International Airport, and enjoys the country's weather.
Meanwhile, she finds getting a residence permit takes a long time. She said it took around half a year for a two-year permit to be approved and another month to get it.
"The date of that permit starts when you apply, not when you get it," she said, adding. "and you can't go anywhere but your home country in that time and you can't even travel through most of Europe."
She's waiting for her renewal, which she thinks could take at least a year. "In the meantime, you're just very restricted about what you can do, and that's pretty frustrating," she said.
O'Donnell also plans to buy an apartment and has found that this is taking a while.
"It's just a simple one-bedroom apartment, and it will probably take a full two years to complete this very typical purchase, which is just wild," she said. "I've been trying to buy a place since December 2021."
She also thinks that while Athens is vibrant and lively, it's car-centric, and the sidewalks could be improved. She thinks getting around is tough because she doesn't have a vehicle and likes walking.
Despite the cons, she said she still loves Athens and Greece overall.
"I am so happy here," she said. "I just have such a great quality of life. It's very different from the US."
What has your moving or travel experience been like? Share with this reporter at [email protected].
A cooler labor market means it could be harder to find a job now than a couple of years ago. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows there were 1.1 job openings per unemployed person this past October, the latest month with data, compared to 1.3 job openings per unemployed person a year earlier.
Stacie Haller, the chief career advisor with ResumeBuilder.com, said she thinks "people aren't necessarily as prepared when they enter a job search today" because they may think the job market is the same as it was many years ago.
But for job seekers who are struggling, there are ways you can try to improve your odds. Below are some things that you may want to change if you aren't landing a job.
Gabrielle Davis, a career trends expert at Indeed, told Business Insider people should first consider the things that matter to them in a job beyond a paycheck, such as the benefits and whether it's remote, instead of first applying to many roles.
"I think that when job seekers function from maybe a place of slight panic, they don't do that because they feel like, 'I just have to move fast because the market's moving fast. I have to get all the stuff in, and I'm just going to see what sticks,'" Davis said. "And that's not always really fruitful for them. So I think that it's better to take a much more intentional approach to the actual job search."
Getz noted people could consider who they may know at the place they're hoping to get a job when they are applying.
"It is often about the network and who you know, but it also is sometimes just a game of numbers," Getz said. "There are so many applicants. You have to just keep applying, be consistent, be persistent, be patient."
You are not doing sufficient prep for an interview
If you get the good news that an employer is interested in interviewing you, it's probably best to prepare for the interview with some research.
Haller said people should know the company's mission, why they even want to work for the employer, and prepare questions to ask during the interview.
"I've interviewed people as a hiring manager with people who have no idea what the company does or why they're even interested in a job," Haller said. "That's a waste of everybody's time."
Some helpful hints of what to say during the interview are in the job posting itself.
"The job posting tells you exactly what they're looking for," Haller said. "That's where your prep starts. So if you know what they're looking for, you want to prepare as many examples that you can about what they might ask in reference to what they're looking for in the person they hire."
Getz also talked about being prepared and other basics of interviewing. Getz said to make "sure that you're dressed professional, that you've prepared, that you've done your research on the company that you're interviewing with, that you have strong questions to ask, that you're prepared to answer behavioral style questions."
Don't do an interview from a car and eliminate any background noise, Getz also advised. Getz emphasized the basics of doing an interview because "it could be one of those minor, little things that knock you out of consideration that could have been overcome by simply being prepared, dressed for the interview."
Davis suggested preparing a few main points that you want to reiterate in every interview round. "If you're speaking to maybe two or three people at a company, just because you've spoken to the same people at one company doesn't always mean that they are sharing exactly what you've spoken about to their colleagues," Davis said.
She added those main points can help show your prep, and she said, "Any sign of preparedness to an employer means, OK, this person is showing up. They're here. They're taking it seriously."
You aren't sending a thank-you note, or you're following up too much
Davis said a handwritten thank-you note could be good if you did an in-person interview. Even if it was not an in-person interview, Davis said sending a simple thank-you note on the same day could be good.
Davis said the note should thank the person for their time and include something personal from the interview to show you were listening.
"I think that really goes a long way," Davis said. "And after that, it's kind out of your hands, so waiting to hear back from the recruiter or hiring manager and then going from there."
Getz said "to be cautious about how often you're following up" because you're not the only job candidate a hiring manager is talking to. She said people don't want to overdo their reach out, and it should be professional.
How long did it take you to find a job, or how long have you been unemployed? Reach out to this reporter to share your experience at [email protected].
Helpers in construction trades had a fatal work injury rate of 27.4 fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2023.
schwartstock/Getty Images
Roofers, construction helpers, and grounds maintenance workers have higher fatal injury rates than many other jobs.
Last year, logging workers had the highest rate per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers at 98.9.
The overall rate dropped from 3.7 fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2022 to 3.5.
Logging, transportation, and hunting work can be risky jobs in the US based on the latest fatal work injury rates released by the Labor Department.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published data on fatal injuries at work in 2023 by industry and occupation.
Fatal injury rates at work were down overall last year. "A worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023 compared to 96 minutes in 2022," a news release from BLS on Thursday said.
Three civilian occupations had rates above 50 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. Logging workers had a fatal injury rate of almost 100 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2023, way above the overall rate of 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers last year. That rate of 3.5 was a tick down from the rate of 3.7 in 2022.
Below are the 10 deadliest jobs in the US based on fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
The metro area of San Francisco had the highest regional price parity in 2023.
Alexander Spatari/Getty Images
Ten of the 15 most expensive metros based on regional price parity data for 2023 were in California.
Miami and New York were two non-California metros with higher prices than the national average.
Some of the least expensive areas were in Arkansas.
The most expensive US metros are commonly found in California, while many of the least expensive ones can be found in the South.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently published regional price parity data for 2023. The figures for states and metros show how price levels of goods and services compare to the national average.
The metro area of Seattle had a regional price parity for goods and services of around 113 in 2023. That means prices were 13% more expensive than the national average, making it one of the metros with the highest regional price parities.
"Whether you are considering a job offer in a more expensive city, looking for an affordable place to retire, or are just curious about how price levels compare between different parts of the country, our regional price parities can help," Vipin Arora, the director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, said in a post.
California was 12.6% more expensive than the national average in 2023, making it the state with the highest regional price parity.
Several Golden State metros had the highest regional price parities among the over 380 metro areas in the US. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles was roughly 11% more expensive than the national average, and prices in San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley were 18% higher than the average.
It's also especially pricey in the Seattle, New York, Miami, Boston, and Honolulu metro areas, rounding out the non-Californian metros with the highest regional price parities in 2023.
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was around 20% less expensive than the national average, making it the metro with the lowest regional price parity in 2023. Arkansas had the lowest regional price parity among states last year.
Several other metros in Arkansas were among the least expensive areas in the US. Most of the 15 metros with the lowest cost of living were in the South.
The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates this week by 25 basis points.
Inflation has ticked back up in recent months, and economists think the job market is still robust.
The outlook for 2025 is more uncertain while the Fed waits to see how Trump will impact the economy.
The final interest-rate decision of the year is coming this week, and it's likely to give Americans some more financial relief.
On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce another interest-rate cut. As of Monday afternoon,CME FedWatch, which estimates interest-rate changes based on market predictions, forecasts a close to 100% chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 basis points.
Data out last week showed overall inflation has sped up. The consumer price index's year-over-year growth rate rose from 2.4% in September to 2.6% in October before climbing to 2.7% in November. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, has been holding steady, with a year-over-year change of 3.3% from September to November.
Jerome Powell, chair of the Fed, said at The New York Times' DealBook Conference on December 4 that "we're in a very good place with the economy," but inflation is still not quite where the central bank wants it to be.
"The labor market is better, and the downside risks appear to be less in the labor market, growth is definitely stronger than we thought, and inflation is coming a little higher," Powell said. "So the good news is that we can afford to be a little more cautious as we try to find neutral."
Slower job growth and higher unemployment may add fuel to the argument for continuing to cut, while a tighter-than-expected labor market could lead the central bank to pause while waiting to see if wage growth and inflation speed up.
"I don't think there's that much cause for concern in the labor market data that would lead to them suspending their plan to cut," Julia Pollak, the chief economist at ZipRecruiter, told Business Insider.
Pollak said the quits rate, the latest reading of which was 2.1% in October, is "consistent with a non-inflationary labor market" and that "wage growth at 4% over the year should be sustainable given current productivity growth." Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said the US economy continues to add jobs above population growth and has low unemployment.
The unemployment rate increased from 4.1% to 4.2% in November. The three-month average job gain in November was around 173,000, lower than early 2024 but still strong.
"There are still many reasons to be optimistic about the labor market, but also you don't, as a Federal Reserve policymaker, you don't want to wait until things start looking bad to react to that because by then, you might be too late," Stahle said.
The interest rate outlook for 2025 is a bit more uncertain. President-elect Donald Trump has already posed broad tariff threats on key trading partners with the US, including China, Canada, and Mexico. If he implements those tariffs, consumers would likelyface higher prices on impacted goods. The Fed could respond to inflationary trade pressures by once again raising interest rates.
However, Powell has so far declined to comment on any policy changes the Fed would consider in response to Trump's tariff threats, saying during the DealBook conference that too much about what Trump might do with tariffs is unknown.
"We can't really start making policy on that at this time. That is something that lies well into the future. We have to let this play out," Powell said, emphasizing that the Fed is making decisions about what's happening in the economy now and not six months from now.
Still, some economists expect 2025 to be another strong year for the economy. Gregory Daco, the chief economist at EY, said that the US "remains on a solid growth trajectory supported by healthy employment and income growth, robust consumer spending, and strong productivity momentum that is helping tame inflationary pressures."
"We expect these positive dynamics will carry into 2025 allowing the Fed to pursue gradual, but cautious, policy recalibration," Daco said in written commentary.
Lifestyle and fashion creator Joseph Arujo said he no longer solely relies on TikTok for his business.
Joseph Arujo
TikTok faces a potential ban in the US if ByteDance doesn't divest by January 19.
The ban could impact creators relying on TikTok for income through brand deals and e-commerce.
Instagram and YouTube may benefit from a ban as creators shift their efforts.
TikTok creators and their teams are starting to take the threat of a ban in the US more seriously β and some wish they had begun preparing earlier.
TikTok could be yanked from US app stores as early as January 19 unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divests. TikTok is challenging the law in court but was just handed another legal defeat this month.
While a ban might annoy many of TikTok's 170 million US users, it would be far more impactful for those creators who use it to make money through brand deals, its Creator Rewards Program, or other methods.
"Looking back, I wish I had encouraged my talent to focus on YouTube Shorts about a year ago β but no time like the present," said Estella Struck, founder of Viviene New York, referring to YouTube's short-form video product. Viviene New York is a marketing agency that works with brands and several TikTok-native creators.
"We're already preparing to diversify by focusing heavily on Instagram, YouTube, and even LinkedIn for short-form video content," Struck added.
Other creator-economy insiders expressed similar sentiments to BI about diversification. They generally felt that they could continue to build up audiences on other platforms or income through other gigs.
"The creator economy would take a blow, but it wouldn't be fatal," said Jasmine Enberg, VP and principal analyst at EMARKETER. "While over half of US companies use TikTok to work with creators and influencers, TikTok accounts for 17.2% of total spending."
Some parts of the creator economy could be hit harder than others, however.
Barbara Jones, CEO of Outshine Talent, said a ban "would be crushing for the e-commerce side," like those creators and brands earning money through TikTok Shop.
"Live e-commerce is really just getting started in the US, and TikTok Shop is leading the way," Jones said. "So, I think that side would be devastated. I think for content creators that make short-form content, they will be less affected."
Sam Saideman, CEO of talent firm Innovo.
Sam Saideman
'We are acting as if it may actually be gone in January'
Jones said she's gotten "a lot of calls of concerns and worry" about a potential TikTok ban.
Many creators and managers are putting together post-TikTok plans, even if they think there's a chance it could stick around.
"We are acting as if it may actually be gone in January despite, in my opinion, not thinking it will actually be gone," Sam Saideman, CEO of talent firm Innovo, told BI. "Best case, it doesn't go away."
Some ways of preparing are easier than others, Saideman said.
"Low-hanging fruit is to migrate fans to other social platforms," Saideman said. "Harder sells are to migrate those audiences to a place that is not reliant on algorithms such as SMS lists, email lists, or exclusive membership groups."
TikToker Joseph Arujo, who has over 830,000 followers, said he believes that even if TikTok is banned, it'll be short-lived, and ByteDance would be forced to sell.
"I think it's scary now that there is this deadline," Arujo said. "But I'm weighing out my options and going to other platforms."
Arujo isn't the only creator thinking about making changes. Justine, a content creator who has almost 260,000 followers on TikTok, said she isn't too worried about the potential ban but is thinking about "shifting a lot of focus" to Instagram and YouTube.
"I think regardless of what job you have, what role you have, having more streams of income, especially in this economy, is almost essential," said Justine, who asked her last name not be used for privacy reasons.
Creator Lauren Schiller, cofounder of the clothing company OGBFF, said that in the short term, she would post to Instagram reels, and then look to make longer-format videos for YouTube and post on her brand's blog.
A TikTok ban wouldn't impact all creators equally, Enberg said.
"A ban would be detrimental to up-and-coming creators and small businesses that rely solely or primarily on the app," Enberg said. "Big brands and established creators would also be disrupted, but can better withstand the upheaval as they're more likely to have diversified their channels and have large, engaged audiences on other platforms."
Megan, who asked her last name not be used for privacy reasons, is a stay-at-home mom who uses TikTok Shop as a side hustle to earn extra income through affiliate commissions.
"It's good to save, to take the trips, to buy Christmas gifts, to live a little more not so paycheck to paycheck," she said, adding that she earned nearly $8,000 in TikTok commissions one month.
She said she planned to allocate time to her other side hustles to make money if TikTok is banned.
Lauren Schiller (L) and Angela Ruis (R) run a "Y2K"-inspired clothing company that has grown an audience thanks to TikTok.
Courtesy OGBFF/@chloegolan
The platforms creators and brands are turning to
"If there's a shift, I believe Instagram will likely take center stage, especially with its direct product-linking capabilities," Struck said.
Enberg said she thought Instagram and YouTube would be the biggest beneficiaries as they both have short-form video products that are natural fits for TikTokers.
"But even if a platform can replicate the technology, they can't force a change in culture," she said. "The type of viral, FOMO and trend-driven behavior doesn't exist on reels, even as the platform has tweaked its algorithm to better serve relevant content, including from smaller creators, to users."
Nya-Gabriella Parchment, cohead of brand partnerships at influencer firm Digital Brand Architects, said a lot of brands are betting on Instagram reels.
"It's easier to convert on Instagram, with ways to link out, so usually brands still use Instagram as their bedrock," Parchment said.
Parchment said creators are also interested in Snapchat again.
Arujo is one of them.
"Ever since the first threat of a TikTok ban, I decided I'm not going to rely on just this," Arujo said.
"Snapchat has been my No. 1," he said.
EMARKETER is owned by Business Insider's partner company Axel Springer.
California had the highest regional price parity last year, which suggests living there is expensive.
Carmen MartΓnez TorrΓ³n/Getty Images
New regional price parity data showed the varying cost of living in the US.
California and Washington, DC, had the highest cost of living, largely driven by housing costs.
Most of the states with the lowest relative cost of living were around the middle of the country.
Many states have a lower cost of living than the national average, but the West Coast and Northeast are still pricey.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis published new regional price parity data on Thursday that showed how expensive it is to live in different areas of the US.
"Regional price parities measure the differences in price levels across states for a given year and are expressed as a percentage of the overall national price level," BEA said in a news release.
The new 2023 data showed 16 states and Washington, DC, had more expensive goods and services than the national average. The states with the lowest cost of living were mainly around the middle of the country, including some states in the South.
The following map shows overall regional price parities, where a value over 100 means it was above the national average. Hawaii's figure of 108.6 means goods and services were about 9% more expensive than the average.
California had the highest relative cost of living; the state is 12.6% more expensive than the average. California metros also made up the majority of the top 10 that had the highest all-items regional price parities in 2023. The metro area of San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley had the highest at 118.2, meaning it was almost 20% more expensive than the national average.
Washington, DC, had an ever-so-slightly higher figure than California in 2022 but fell short of California's in 2023. DC was 10.8% more expensive than the average. New Jersey ranked right below DC.
Relatively high housing costs contributed to the overall high regional price parities in those two states and DC. BEA said rents are usually "the main driver in differences in RPPs." DC, California, and New Jersey had the highest regional price parities for rents.
Arkansas continued to have the lowest regional price parity and was 13.5% less expensive than the national average in 2023. Alabama, West Virginia, and South Dakota were among the 10 states that were at least 10% less expensive than the national average.
The consumer price index increased 2.7% from a year ago as expected, higher than October's 2.6% rate and the highest reading since July, when the rate was 2.9%.
Matt Colyar, an economist at Moody's Analytics, told Business Insider before the new data was published that an acceleration wouldn't be concerning because November's increase would likely be because of housing inflation. Shelter inflation has mainly been cooling from its peak of over 8% in March last year but is still high compared to the pre-pandemic rate.
"If inflation were to accelerate because prices for cyclical, demand-driven things like hotels, vehicles, airfare, etc. jumped, then policymakers at the Federal Reserve will start to look at the US economy with a bit more caution," Colyar said. "That shouldn't be overstated, however. It takes more than one monthly data point to be a trend and we haven't yet seen that kind of dynamic emerging."
While shelter was the biggest contributor to inflation overall, housing price growth has slowed. "The shelter index increased 4.7 percent over the last year, the smallest 12-month increase since February 2022," a Bureau of Labor Statistics news release on Wednesday said.
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee will meet once more this year next week on December 17 and 18 and will likely announce another interest-rate cut. CME FedWatch showed after the new inflation data was published traders expected a nearly 100% chance of an interest rate cut of 25 basis points next week, up from a nearly 90% chance before the report.
The CPI increased 0.3% over the month in November from October, the same as the forecast and an uptick from October's increase of 0.2%. The news release said that the rise in the shelter index over the month accounted for almost 40% of the overall increase.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 3.3% from a year ago as expected. That's the same year-over-year rate as in October.
The energy index fell 3.2% year over year in November after declining 4.9% in October. Gas tumbled by 8.1% in November.
The food-at-home index rose 1.6% year-over-year in November after rising 1.1% in October, and the food-away-from-home index increased 3.6% in November after rising 3.8% in October.
Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told BI following the jobs report that "there are still many reasons to be optimistic about the labor market," like the layoff rate being less than the pre-pandemic low. However, Stahle added, "As a Federal Reserve policymaker, you don't want to wait until things start looking bad to react to that because then by then you might be too late."
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009, although many states have raised their own pay.
Luis Alvarez/Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview that he "would consider" raising the federal minimum wage.
It has been at $7.25 per hour since 2009; however, 30 states and DC have increased their minimum above the federal level.
Here's where it stands in every state and the raises both parties have proposed.
President-elect Donald Trump said he'd consider raising the federal minimum wage. It's been $7.25 per hour since 2009, though 30 states and a slew of cities have adopted higher rates.
"It's a very low number," Trump said in an interview with "Meet the Press" that aired on December 8. While he didn't commit to a specific level, he said that a federal minimum of $8 or $9 "might have very little effect" because of the low cost of living in some areas.
Any raises to the federal minimum wage would directly affect workers in at least the20 states where, as of July, the minimum wage was at or below the federal level, per the Department of Labor. Most minimum wage jobs are in the service sector, largely in food preparation and serving-related positions.
Washington, DC, has a higher minimum wage than any state in the country at $17.50, though some US cities have raised it even more. Washington state, with a minimum wage of $16.28, and California, with a minimum wage of $16, came in second and third, respectively.
On January 1, 21 states β and 48 cities and counties β are set to see their minimum wages increase, mostly as a result of existing laws, per the National Employment Law Project. In the most recent election, Missouri voted to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, and Alaska voted to hike its minimum to $15 by mid-2027.
The last federal minimum increase was in July 2009, from $6.55 to $7.25. Since then, overall prices based on the consumer price index have gone up around 47% in the US as of November.
Trump pointed out in his "Meet the Press" interview thatthe cost of living varies across the country, and a federal wage might not be a one-size-fits-all solution.
"The other thing that is very complicated about minimum wage is places are so different," he said. "Mississippi and Alabama and great places are very different than New York or California in terms of the cost of living and other things."
Indeed, regional price parities data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show that Mississippi and Alabama had among the lowest costs of living in the country in 2023, while California and New York were more expensive than the national average. Alabama and Mississippi don't have state minimum wage laws. The minimum wage in New York is $16 in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, and $15 for the rest of the state.
While Trump said wage changes like California's β which hiked it to $20 for fast food workers in April β might go too far, "there is a level at which you could do it, absolutely." He said before making any changes, he'd want to speak to governors.
President Joe Biden backed a $15 wage, which every Republican senator and eight Democrats ultimately voted against. Some lawmakers on the left have gone even further, with Sen. Bernie Sanders pushing to raise the wage to $17 by 2028.
Some Republicans have also proposed raising the federal minimum wage. While he was still in the Senate, Vice President-elect JD Vance cosponsored a bill to gradually increase it to $11, although that bill also includes additional measures like raising penalties on employers that hire workers living in the country illegally.
The Trump-Vance transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on Trump's potential plans for the minimum wage.
The US added 227,000 jobs in November, greater than the expected gain of 202,000.
Unemployment ticked up as expected from 4.1% to 4.2%.
The job market's strength in October was clouded due to hurricanes and strikes impacting data collection.
The US added 227,000 jobs in November, more than the consensus expectation of 202,000.
Unemployment increased as expected, from 4.1% in October to 4.2% in November. The rate has been at least 4% since May. While that's low compared to historical averages, the overall labor market has cooled due to a hiring slowdown.
The new jobs report gives the Federal Reserve better information about the state of the labor market after October's report was hampered by the effects of hurricanes and strikes. Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed October's preliminary gain was revised up β from 12,000 jobs to 36,000. September's growth was also revised upward, from 223,000 to 255,000.
"Some of the story in November is post-hurricane bounce back," Ernie Tedeschi, the director of economics at The Budget Lab at Yale, wrote on X.
Tedeschi said the revisions for October and September increased the three-month moving average job growth to 173,000 a month. That's in line with this year's trend, suggesting that the weak October report was indeed a hurricane- and strike-fueled outlier.
Slightly fewer people were working or looking for work in November. Labor force participation dropped from 62.6% in October to 62.5%.
Wage growth remained steady, with average hourly earnings increasing 4% year-over-year in November, matching October's rate.
The CME FedWatch tool, which shows what traders think Fed rate decisions will be, showed a roughly 90% chance of a 25-basis-point cut in December after the BLS release, up from around 70% before the report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Drivers and customer service representatives are the most common jobs for young men and women, respectively, in the US without a four-year college degree.
Ron Watts/Getty Images
A Pew Research Center analysis shows the largest occupations for young US workers without degrees.
Men often work as drivers or in construction, while women work in customer service or nursing roles.
College enrollment rates have declined in recent years.
Men and womenbetween the ages of 25 and 34 who don't have college degrees also work as construction laborers, health aides, cashiers, and chefs, per a Pew Research Center analysis published in July.
There was little overlap in the most common jobs for young men and women without a college degree, but the two groups did share two roles: first-line supervisors of sales workers and retail salespersons.
Roles like these have become particularly prevalent for men, whose college enrollment rates have fallen behind women's in recent years.
Forty-seven percent of US women between the ages of 25 and 34 have a bachelor's degree compared to 37% of men, per a Pew analysis published in November. However, overallcollege enrollment rates have fallen in recent years: The share ofmale high school graduates between the ages of 16 and 24 enrolling in college has declinedto 58% as of 2023 from 67% in 2018, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Young women's enrollment rate has declined to 65% from 71% over this period.
Many of these young people are seeking jobs that don't require a college degree, and some have benefited from companies dropping degree requirements. The share of US job postings that require at least a college degree has fallen to 17.8% from 20.4% in 2019, according to an Indeed report publishedearlier this year. To be sure, many employers still prioritize hiring workers with a college diploma.
The Pew report published in July also highlighted the most common job categories for Americans with a four-year college degree. Four occupation categories were among the 10 most common jobs for both men and women: software developers, managers, accountants and auditors, and elementary and middle school teachers.
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