Because labor force growth has cooled significantly, this is the primary reason the unemployment rate is closer to 4% today instead of 5%. It’s challenging to say this is due to a lack of labor force growth when the Fed said that the Job data was strong in 2023 due to labor force growth. However, it has correlated with the softer labor market, as job openings have decreased from 12 million to close to 7 million. ConclusionLet’s keep it straightforward: the labor market is softer but not collapsing and we can know this even without the jobs Friday data. However, what I shared in this article gives a glimpse of the recent job data as we await further data from the government.