Share of U.S. Workers Who Lost Jobs Just Fell to a Record Low

(Bloomberg) -- Americans are staying put in their jobs.

The share of U.S. workers who were unemployed in February after having a job in the previous month slid to 0.96 percent, the lowest in data going back to 1990, according to Labor Department figures released Friday. That number -- covering people who were laid off or fired, or who walked away from jobs and started looking for work again -- indicates companies are loath to lose staff and workers have little desire or ability to leave.

The number indicates a tight labor market, in contrast with other data in the report signaling slack: Lower-than-expected wage growth in the period means those workers weren’t necessarily compensated for their loyalty.

To contact the reporters on this story: Katia Dmitrieva in Washington at edmitrieva1@bloomberg.net, Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Alister Bull

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.