• Workplace stress: It’s complicated: Get the latest from the ADP Research Institute’s Data Lab.

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March 25, 2024

MainStreet Macro: How to catch a moving target

Change is a constant theme on this blog. That’s not only because the Main Street economy is always in motion, which it is, but also because big, long-in-the-making changes have begun rapidly shifting the economic landscape. For business leaders and decision-makers, it can be hard to keep up, let alone catch changing trends.
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November 13, 2023

MainStreet Macro: The New Geography of Remote Work

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

At the ADP Research Institute, I work with an incredible team that stretches from Hawaii to Poland, with several stops along the way. Teams like ours have become more prevalent during the pandemic. Well-deserved attention has been given to hybrid work arrangements, and the associated compromises on how many days to spend in the office. However, unlike fully remote arrangements, hybrid work requires employees to live within a commuting distance of a work location.
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November 6, 2023

MainStreet Macro: What a slowing job market means for women

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Last week’s data on jobs showed us a solid but slowing labor market. Private employers added 113,000 jobs in October, according to the ADP National Employment Report, and the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that U.S. non-farm payrolls grew by 150,000. And the super-sized wage gains that defined the labor market over the past 18 months also have slowed dramatically.
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October 30, 2023

MainStreet Macro: The economy’s comeback story

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Everyone loves a good comeback story. Well, most everyone. When the economy provided us with a comeback story last week, just in time for this week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve, only the stock market took the news as bad.
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October 23, 2023

MainStreet Macro: That new-hire glow is fading

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.Liv Wang

Job-switching is looking a lot less lucrative these days. The pay premium new hires commanded during the pandemic has been falling steadily for more than a year. In this week’s MainStreet Macro, ADP chief economist Nela Richardson and ADPRI senior data scientist Liv Wang look at shrinking new hire pay.
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October 9, 2023

MainStreet Macro: Unraveling clues to the job market

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

Occasionally, I like to leave the comfort of my Main Street and take a tour of the economy to see how other neighborhoods are faring. One place that got my attention last week was the bond market. Last week, bond market investors were scrutinizing the job market for clues to determine whether the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates this year.
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October 2, 2023

MainStreet Macro: Under lock and key

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

I vividly recall the first time I received my keys as a new homeowner. I was in a conference room with my new husband, our real estate agent, the seller, his new husband, and his real estate agent. I remember the seller passing the keys to me. In that moment, I became a homeowner. That was nearly 20 years ago. Today, mortgage rates are at a 20-year high, fewer homes are on the market, home prices continue to increase steadily, and moments like the one I had all those years ago are out of reach for more and more would-be homebuyers.
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September 25, 2023

MainStreet Macro: Chasing Growth

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

This week, in the absence of a video, I’d like to set a scene with words. Imagine you’re a hero, tracking a villain dead-set on mayhem. The fate of the economy hangs on your every move. Fraught with more tension than The Dark Knight, central banks around the world have been doing just that, turning their laser sights on interest rates as they try to chase down high inflation. Every decision carries high stakes, with the threat of a slowing economy menacing at every turn. It’s a fact that many economies don’t just fall into recession; they’re driven there by central banks that hike rates too aggressively.
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September 18, 2023

MainStreet Macro: What happens when the best choice isn’t available? (Asking for a friend)

by Nela Richardson, Ph.D.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend, but let’s be real: Sometimes dogs will settle for second best. It’s that way with the economy, too. Central banks are the economy’s best friends for now, but for how long?
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