60 straight months of sub-4.5% unemployment: economist credits AI for the best job market ever
pmddomingos · x · 2026-11-07
Economist pmddomingos shares labor data with the note "Thank you, AI, for the best job market in history."
The chart shows the US has now run 60 consecutive months (Oct 2021–Oct 2026) with unemployment at or below 4.5% — the longest such streak since records began in 1948, beating the 57-month run of 1965–1970. The 5-year moving average unemployment rate sits near 3.9%, close to historic lows.
A notable data-backed counterpoint to the "AI takes jobs" narrative.
More from AGI Musings
- Scott Alexander clashes with critic over whether AI labs may race without public consent — wfithian · 2026-11-07
- A 2x capabilities speedup, 3x algorithm progress: Tom Davidson says this is what 2027 IQ explosion looks like — eli_lifland · 2026-11-07
- AI labs pay up to $2M for corporate work files and emails, data trade may rival compute — pmddomingos · 2026-11-07
- Delvetown: an internet town where humans and AI agents live as neighbors hits 1,000+ residents — Miles_Brundage · 2026-11-07
- ICLR reviews flagged 91-93% AI-generated, sparking peer review integrity debate — 3scorciav · 2026-11-07
- Critic: Anthropic backs recursive self-improvement at full speed while only talking about safety — peterwildeford · 2026-11-07