But most of the decline reflects a shrinking labor force rather than new hiring.
In recent decades, layoffs were the standard procedure for shrinking labor costs.
Shrinking labor forces, weaker social security, and other consequences soon follow.
The arrangement was a fairly common means of shrinking labor costs in the recession of the early 1980s.
A shrinking labor pool can force employers to raise wages to attract or retain workers, creating inflationary pressures.
Mr. Harris expects tepid economic growth and a shrinking labor market to persist through the fall of 2009.
And with a shrinking labor pool that's more mobile than ever, competition among potential employers is fierce.
Many economists initially thought that the shrinking labor force — which drove down November's unemployment rate — was caused primarily by discouraged older workers giving up on the job market.
Economists cautioned that this bit of seeming good news was the result of a shrinking labor force, rather than the addition of jobs.
Of course, the situation was even worse in 2009 and 2010, when nearly all of the improvement in the jobless rate was from a shrinking labor force.
And costs are likely to continue growing because shrinking labor market opportunities for noncollege-educated workers are likely to continue well past this recession.
