Paychecks are feeling pretty thin — and other happenings in the world of work

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Catch up on headlines from the last 7 days.

• Jobless claims are up. The number of Americans filing for unemployment climbed to its highest weekly level in eight months last week as more companies from Ford to Lyft announced job cuts. The job market, however, is still strong with employers still seeking workers and the unemployment rate near record lows.
• Airlines are still turning a profit, even amid a chaotic travel season with understaffed airports and sky-high fuel costs. American Airlines, Alaska Air Group and United Airlines all reported their highest second-quarter sales ever.
• Existing home sales fell to a two-year low in June, continuing a five-month decline. Rising prices and rising interest rates are dragging down demand. Renting is currently cheaper than buying in three-quarters of the country, a big change from the start of the year. Expensive real estate is one of the main reasons a raft of Americans have been eyeing a move to Europe.
• Millennials want purpose at work, with new research finding those who believe their work has meaning are three times more likely to stay at a job.
• CEOs are earning 300 times more than staff, meaning the executive to worker wage ratio is at a record high, according to a new pay study by the AFL-CIO.
• It could take 70 years for colleges to get more diverse, according to new research from McKinsey. Graduation rates for Black, Hispanic and Latino people continue to lag and marginalized groups remain underrepresented in both university student and staffing populations.

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

Paychecks are feeling pretty thin

• Americans are strapped for cash. Nearly 6 in 10 workers are worried their paycheck won’t cover necessary expenses this month, according to an American Staffing Association survey conducted by The Harris Poll. The main driver behind this uncertainty is runaway inflation, which rocketed to a 41-year high of 9.1% last month, with food, gas and shelter feeling the most expensive.
• A separate survey found that half of hourly workers have no savings at all, up from 41% last year. “Wages aren’t keeping pace with inflation,” Bloomberg editor Lindsey Rupp pointed out, and hourly minimum wage workers are “feeling the pain.” An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found that a person earning $7.25 an hour for a full-time job in 2009 was effectively earning $5,000 more than a person earning the same wage and working the same hours today. “Think of what that means for someone who’s trying to afford rent, or a car payment, or student loans or whatever it may be,” EPI’s director David Cooper said.
• Personal finance fears are primed to rage on — the Fed is likely to raise interest rates substantially later this week in an effort to rein in inflation. “With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at an unprecedented pace, variable rate debts such as credit cards and home equity lines of credit will be the biggest exposure,” Greg McBride, Bankrate’s Chief Financial Analyst, said in an email.

Workers are winning the work-from-home battle

• Employers are offering more flexibility to workers because the still-tight labor market gives more power to employees — and it’s pushing both groups to start getting on the same page about hybrid arrangements. The gap between how many work-from-home days workers want and how many remote days bosses plan for has narrowed to 0.44 days from 1.38 days, according to new data from WFH Research. That’s good news for marginalized communities, since separate research found that working remotely fosters more diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Nick Bloom, a Stanford economist, noted that certain industries are more likely to work from home. Employers in the tech industry, for example, are planning for more remote days, followed by finance, wholesale trade, and professional and business services.
• It seems there are fewer perceived penalties for staying home. More than a third (35%) of employees believe their boss would do “nothing” if they didn’t show up to the office as requested. Penalty or no penalty, there are some unintended realities of more remote days. Check in on your summer interns — they’re probably pretty lonely.

Creator jobs are booming in these industries

• The creator economy is going strong, with the number of job postings for “creators” nearly tripling since 2021, according to a LinkedIn Economic Graph analysis. The industries with the most jobs for digital creatives include technology and information, advertising sales, staffing and recruiting, e-learning and IT services and consulting.
• While creators and influencers were once hallmarks of flashier industries like fashion, pop music or luxury travel, there are now job opportunities across sectors — and across roles — for them. There’s robust demand for administrative and support roles from creator managers to creator partnerships and more, the analysis found.?
• This level of growth “unlocks possibilities for everyone with a smartphone,” branding professional Alex Mimms commented. Entrepreneur Mary Southern said the growth of the creator economy isn’t just beneficial for jobseekers. “As a small business owner, word of mouth and customer referrals are everything,” she explained. “Creators and influencers can help you and your business tap into new markets, opportunities and communities.”

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

• Tuesday, July 26: The Census Bureau will release the annualized number of new construction single-family homes sold in June. It’s expected to be a lower number than May. The report is typically highly correlated with the existing homes report, which was released last week.
• Wednesday, July 27: The Census Bureau will release its monthly report on durable goods orders, which measures manufacturing activity.
• Wednesday, July 27: The Federal Reserve will release an interest rate decision. A supersized rate hike is expected.
• Wednesday, July 27: LinkedIn Senior Editor at Large George Anders will release his latest edition of Workforce Insights, digging into how U.S. financial optimism has trended over the past 2.5 years.
• Thursday, July 28: The Labor Department will release initial jobless claims for the previous week. The report, a proxy for layoffs, tracks the number of people filing for unemployment benefits.
• Thursday, July 28: The Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the second quarter U.S. GDP growth rate, which measures the changing in inflation-adjusted value of goods and services and is an indicator of economic health.