The economy is still growing — and other happenings in the world of work

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Catch up on headlines from the last 7 days.

• The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.9% annualized rate in the last three months of 2022, according to the latest Commerce Department report. Read more about this GDP data below.
• Inflation climbed at its slowest pace in more than a year in December, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. This suggests the Fed’s next interest rate hike — due Wednesday — could be less aggressive.?
• Layoffs continue with companies such as Dow, IBM and SAP announcing plans to cut jobs last week. It’s not all doom and gloom — some companies like Chipotle and Airbus SE simultaneously revealed plans to add thousands of jobs in 2023.
• The typical American is rent-burdened — or pays at least 30% of their income to cover the average monthly housing payment, according to a new analysis. The highest rent-to-income ratios are in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles.?
• Remote work saved American commuters an average of 55 minutes a day over the past two years, a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed. That time now goes to working more, starting a side hustle, relaxing, exercising or caring for loved ones.?
• Workers are getting “quietly promoted,” or given more responsibility on the job without a change in title or compensation. A recent survey found that 78% of U.S. workers have experienced this, with hospitality, food services, government and education being the most common industries where this happens.?
• White-collar workers are turning to AI for help on the job, with more than a third of tech workers and marketers using ChatGPT to draft emails, debug code and summarize research, according to a new survey.

Take a closer look at recent trending topics — and engage with meaningful conversations happening on LinkedIn.

The economy is still growing

• The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.9% annualized rate last quarter, according to the latest Commerce Department data. That’s slightly slower than the prior quarter but still beat economists’ expectations. While the headline is good, LinkedIn’s Principal Economist Guy Berger noted that the “underlying trend is soft.”?
• “We’ve seen a lot of volatility in the GDP data during 2022. GDP growth in the first half was negative,” Berger said. “Most of that volatility has come from fluctuation in business inventories and the trade deficit — they subtracted a lot from GDP growth in the first half and added a lot in the second half,” he continued. The bottom line? “This is an economy that isn’t shrinking or in a recession, but is growing below the pre-pandemic trend.”
• The fastest interest rate hikes in 40 years are expected to continue weighing on spending and growth in the months ahead, but it’s not all negative. “Watch the job market for early signs of weakness in consumer spending. Yes, layoffs are happening, but unemployment is historically low, showing that laid off people are still finding gigs easily,” Callie Cod, an investment analyst, commented. The next update from the Bureau of Labor Statistics around the unemployment rate and job market landscape lands on Friday. “The signs are everywhere that the U.S. economy is slowing rapidly but decelerating inflation and a still somewhat strong labor market could support a very resilient U.S. economy,” housing economist Orphe Divounguy commented.

Workers are prioritizing stability

• Over half of U.S. workers (56%) say that stability is more important to them than flexibility amid economic uncertainty, according to LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence Index survey results. Only 22% disagree, putting flexibility ahead of job stability.?
• Experts say this anxiety comes from high anxiety spurred by headline-making layoffs and the feeling that job stability must be earned by showing up to the office. Paris Lowry, a writer, agreed. “I am looking at the situation from a financial standpoint, I can’t afford to miss out on work because they weren’t as flexible as I like,” she commented. She looks forward to one day holding a position that is both secure, flexible and allows her to “hold higher expectations of how she’s treated at work.”
• Talent professional Amanda Hall commented that security without flexibility isn’t quite security at all. “In the end, people really just want psychological safety and trust within their workplace, especially from their leaders,” she commented. Her word of advice to those leaders? “Investing in people and development, refining processes and systems and focusing energy on sound organizational structures directly tied to goals and company strategy will allow for both flexibility and security.”?

Small cities benefit from remote work

• Workers that can be flexible, however, are using that freedom to stimulate unexpected local economies. One economic development program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, paid about 2,000 remote workers each $10,000 to move to the city for one year. The year is up now — and the program worked. Every dollar invested in the program created $13 of local economic activity for Tulsa — and over 90% of participants are choosing to stay in the area beyond the one year.
• A study from Harvard Business School found that the program was so successful, in part, because participants ended up with higher real incomes and a lower cost of living, particularly when it comes to housing. Participants themselves also credit the social aspect of the program: “The Tulsa remote program provides an instant community and thought share for participants,” sales professional Kris Holmes commented.
• There are other places — like Northwest Alabama and the state of West Virginia — that have similar programs. The main question, however, is if such programs are sustainable as major employers in big cities like New York and Chicago call workers back to the office, according to Harvard Business Review’s Walter Frick.

Get ready for the week by seeing what's coming up.

• Tuesday, January 31: The Conference Board will release its monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, which measures how optimistic Americans are about the economy.
• Wednesday, February 1: The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey for December, which measures job vacancies across industries.
• Wednesday, February 1: The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates.
• Wednesday, February 1: LinkedIn Senior Editor at Large George Anders will release his latest edition of Workforce Insights, digging into how C-suite titles have changed over the course of the pandemic.?
• Thursday, February 2: The U.S. Department of Labor will release initial jobless claims for the previous week. The report, a proxy for layoffs, tracks the number of people filing for unemployment benefits.
• Friday, February 3: The Institute for Supply Management will release its monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index, which tracks if the non-manufacturing sector is expanding. It is an indicator of economic health.
• Friday, February 3: The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the December jobs report. The monthly release tracks the unemployment rate and how many jobs were added to the economy.