Shortages appear to be stabilising

As it turns out, employment gains were much stronger than previously thought over the final few months of last year and the Omicron wave did little to slow the pace of growth in January. With the exodus from the labour force apparently smaller than previously believed and annual wage growth accelerating above 5%, it’s possible that labour market conditions are even tighter than we feared. At the same time, however, other indicators suggest labour shortages are stabilising, while supply shortages of goods like vehicles appear to be improving.