The cost of living is a burden on the average individual's income. For the people Stewart sees, any economic event out of the ordinary can spell disaster because they have no savings or support system. Stewart doesn't like measuring a problem, like unemployment, in percentages. It's so expensive. Bash, of the Purple Cow, echoes Mobley concerning the expense of a labor shortage.
Turnover is so expensive.
But these are uncertain times. The stock market is wobbly. In a few months or years, a labor shortage might look like the best thing possible.