Americans are moving from job to job more quickly these days, perhaps an indication of growing health in the U.S. labor market. According to recently released Labor Department data, median employee tenure, which represents the length of time that the typical worker has been with his or her current employer, stood at four point two years in January.
That’s down from four point six years in January twenty fourteen. This is the first decline recorded since the year two thousand. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, median employee tenure also declined during the late nineteen ninetees when the economy was very strong. In nineteen ninety six, median tenure stood at three point eight years.
Four years later, it was down to three point five years. Since then, an aging workforce has helped to push tenure higher since older workers tend to hold onto their jobs longer than younger workers. While the Labor Department warns against reading too much into median worker tenure data, there is a strong case to be made that the latest decline in tenure is good news. Many jobs have been created recently, allowing workers to seek out better employment opportunities.
