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5 min read“If you're trying to hire somebody, you may be trying to take them from another job. Convincing someone to leave their comfy, cozy, low fire position for something new and unknown is especially tough right now.” That’s Nick Tremper, an economist at Gusto, explaining why wage growth for job-switchers jumped 7.4% in July compared to a year ago, according to the ADP payroll report. The catch: overall private-sector hiring was weak, with only 44,000 jobs added. The labor market remains in a “low hire, low fire” pattern, and the premium for switching jobs is a sign of caution, not a broad wage boom.
The wage premium for job-hoppers is real but narrow
The ADP data shows that people who changed jobs in July saw notably faster pay growth than those who stayed put. But Corey Staley, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, warns against reading this as a signal that the labor market is heating up across the board. Instead, the wage bump is concentrated in specific roles and industries where employers are desperate enough to poach talent. The logic is straightforward: if workers are risk-averse and reluctant to leave stable positions, companies must offer a meaningful pay increase to overcome that inertia. Staley notes that wage growth for job-switchers can be a leading indicator — if demand picks up, it may eventually trickle down to raises for workers who stay in their current jobs.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:31) **Market Overview: Jobs Data & Wage Growth for Job Switchers** - Kai Ryssdal introduces the episode's focus on the labor market, previewing the July unemployment report and ADP data showing a wage premium for people who change jobs.
- 2 (03:43) **Gen Z Spending: The "Little Treat" Economy** - A report from Bank of America shows Gen Zers across all income brackets are spending more, defying the K-shaped recovery trend seen in other generations.
- 3 (06:35) **Healthcare Payment Integrity: The $9 Billion Industry** - An exploration of how "payment integrity" companies save employers money by finding errors in healthcare claims, which account for nearly one-fifth of the US economy.
- 4 (11:00) **The Used EV Market: A New Kind of Car Business** - Kai Ryssdal visits Plug, an online marketplace for buying and selling used electric vehicles, and interviews CEO Jimmy Douglas about the unique challenges and opportunities in this growing sector.
- 5 (19:35) **Inside the Plug Auction: Tech, Fintech, and Vertical Integration** - Kai continues his conversation with Jimmy Douglas, watching the final minutes of the daily auction and learning about the company's ambitious growth plans.
- 6 (28:06) **Final Note: US Diesel Exports Hit a Record** - Kai closes the show with a data point from the Energy Information Administration about US distillate exports.
- 7 Standout Quotes
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
You know how wages have, on average, stagnated when you account for inflation? Well there’s one group that saw some actual wage growth last month: Job changers. Pay growth for people who switched jobs was 7% in July, according to ADP. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the entire labor market is heating up — some in-demand labor sectors might be accounting for most of that bump. Also in this episode: Gen Z bucks the K-shaped economy trend, insurance billing errors can add up for employers, and Kai visits a used EV auction.
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