The US jobs market is 'overheating'

Todd Korol/Reuters

Torsten Sløk, the chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, thinks the US labor market is hot — maybe too hot.

In a note on Monday, Sløk took exception to the idea that there is underlying labor market slack in a pool of workers waiting outside of the labor market. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has even noted that there may be a group of people who are listed as outside the labor market that want to find a job but have been discouraged.

"It is harder to fill a job today than in 2006 when the economy was overheating, see the first chart below," wrote Sløk. "If there really is a significant number of workers available outside the labor market to come in and take jobs why are companies then saying that they cannot find workers?" (emphasis his)

Todd Korol/Reuters

Sløk noted that the number of job openings means the US is "already at full employment." Additionally, Sløk noted that the number of people holding multiple jobs is also at its highest point since the recession.

"Similarly, the number of workers holding two or more jobs is at a cyclical high, this is normally also a reflection of an overheated labor market," concluded Sløk.

Todd Korol/Reuters

To be fair, the record number of unfilled job openings has also been blamed on a possible mismatch between the training and skills that available workers have and what companies are looking for. Basically, there are more people to hire but they don't have the right skills.

While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as a tight labor market usually leads to increases in wages for workers, it does have implications for future Fed actions. 

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