White-Collar Labor

Indicator Study | Active | As of 2026-04-24 | Freshness 12d

White-Collar Labor is 'active' with a composite score of 54.6. The hottest components are Hiring deterioration 60.5, Claims spillover 55.9.

54.62 Score

12 day(s) Freshness

2026-04-24 As Of

Component Scores

Driver	Component	Score	Raw	Transformed
Professional and business services hires	Hiring deterioration	74.34	3.90	20.41
Initial unemployment claims	Claims spillover	57.14	214000.00	-4.46
Continuing unemployment claims	Claims spillover	54.59	1821000.00	-4.46
Professional and business services job openings	Hiring deterioration	54.48	1260.00	5.90
Temporary-help employment	Hiring deterioration	52.59	2474.50	2.10
Average weekly hours in professional and business services	Hours softening	39.28	36.60	-0.27

Higher scores indicate more replacement pressure or fragility for this study.

All lines are scored on the same 0-100 scale using trailing z-scores on a weekly Friday panel.

Higher scores mean white-collar labor conditions look softer and more replacement-prone.
Claims are weekly; payroll and JOLTS series are forward-filled to the weekly panel rather than upsampled with interpolation.
Mechanism note: Replacement pressure shows up first through slower hiring, weaker hours, and then broader claims spillover rather than immediate mass unemployment.
Freshness: the stalest source series in this study is 12 day(s) old.

White-Collar Labor remains active with a composite score of 54.6, driven by elevated hiring deterioration and claims spillover.

Composite score of 54.6 reflects a 60.5 hiring-deterioration component and 55.9 claims-spillover component, indicating sustained labor market tightness.
Professional and business services hires (score 74.3) and initial unemployment claims (score 57.1) are the primary positive drivers.
Hours softening stays low at 39.3, suggesting limited reduction in weekly work hours.

Caveat: The index can be volatile due to short-term swings in unemployment claims, so recent momentum may not persist.