Career coach Michelle Perchuk breaks down December's weak jobs report: 50,000 new jobs and 4.4% unemployment, the slowest growth since 2020. She says employers still want top talent who know AI and can prove their value. Job seekers should stop hunting openings and start solving problems employers actually have.
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The latest monthly jobs report is out showing a modest hiring over the month of December. Employers added 50,000 new jobs last month, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4%. However, employment growth was at the weakest annually since 2020. Joining me now to analyze this data and what it means for those especially in the job market, Michelle Perchuk, uh, and she is of course a career coach, have been, has been on The Rush Hour before, so welcome back.
Thank you so much.
So how are you interpreting this latest data, especially for those who are seeking employment right now?
So beginning of the year, people really need to decide who are they going to listen to. Are they going to listen to gossip or are they going to listen to the experts? So yes, job growth has really stalled, but employers are looking for top talent, people that have been investing in themselves and upskilling through last year.
And so when you say top talent, you know, how do you make yourself stand out as one of those people considered to be top talent if you're in that market?
Absolutely. So obviously showing an ROI and what you've what you've done for companies in your past, but also people that embraced AI and have built AI fluency in their jobs last year. That's what employers are looking for.
So you need to be fluent in AI. The flip side to that is the threat that many perceive that AI is— will impose on all sorts of sectors in terms of taking jobs away from humans. How are you telling people to be versatile enough and skilled enough to approach that oncoming wave?
Well, everything starts with the mindset. If you're going to feel that AI will take your job away, there, in fact, they probably will. But if you're going to run towards it and figure out how to incorporate that into your job, that will really help you stand out and differentiate in the job market.
I love that advice. You have to take ownership, right?
Absolutely.
I want to talk about this other report that we got. It came out recently, the Metropolitan Area Employment Survey. —this also from the Department of Labor. Interestingly, what it shows is the largest year-over-year increases in the New York area in terms of jobs. Tell me how— what you're seeing on the ground in terms of that kind of data.
Well, we have the best employers here. We have the trendsetters here. We have the best headquarters for corporations here. And they know that they could attract talent in a big metropolitan city where there's a variety of opportunities for people. So professionals are coming to New York because when you come to New York and you build your career here, you have a variety of companies you can work for.
Let's drill down a little bit on this proactive mindset that you're talking about. In a practical sense, how, how does somebody take that approach?
So most people, when they're looking for a job, they're looking for jobs, and that's why few people find jobs. When you're seeking a job that you're going to love, your dream job, the idea is to start looking for problems. If you could demonstrate to a hiring manager or an employer that you could solve a multimillion-dollar problem for them, they will create the job for you. And this is where I see most of my clients have success, where they have impactful conversations with hiring managers. They demonstrate they could solve a major business problem. And boom, a job gets created for them.
That is such great advice. Don't go into the interview unprepared without having done your research on that particular employer and what needs they have that you can solve.
Absolutely.
Absolutely. Michelle Perchuk, career coach. This is great advice. Thank you so much for coming on.
