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According to the Washington Post, The nation added 200,000 jobs in December in a burst of hiring that drove the unemployment rate down two notches to 8.5 percent, its lowest in almost three years, and led economists to conclude that the improvement in the job market might just last.
“There is more horsepower to this economy than most believe,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands. “The stars are aligned right for a meaningful economic recovery.”
It was the sixth month in a row that the economy added at least 100,000 jobs, the longest streak since 2006. The economy added jobs every month last year, the first time that has happened since 2005.
And the unemployment rate, which peaked at 10 percent in October 2009 and stood at 9.1 percent in August, has fallen four months straight. It was 8.7 percent in November.
If economics textbooks and the best hopes of millions of unemployed Americans are confirmed, the virtuous cycle may be under way, which would suggest the job market will continue to strengthen.
When people are hired, they have more money to spend. The means greater demand for goods and services and results in businesses hiring even more people. That results in even more spending and leads to even more hiring.
That would be the reverse of the vicious cycle that took hold during the Great Recession. People lost jobs and spent less, so businesses rang up less sales and were forced to lay off more people. That led to even less spending and more layoffs.
“The labor market is healing,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. She cautioned that “we still have a long way to go — years — to recoup the losses we have endured.”
Indeed, the economy added 1.6 million jobs for all of 2011. That is better than the 940,000 added during 2010. In 2009, the most bruising year of the Great Recession, the nation lost more than 5 million.
However, it will still take 6 million more jobs to get the United States back to what it had in December 2007, when the recession began. Economists forecast the nation will add almost 2 million this year.
The news certainly is encouraging. So...will YOU be ready when the job you're looking for opens up? Check with Start Now! Career Guide to see how we can help in your job search.
You can read the entire story here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sixth-straight-month-of-solid-hiring-expected-when-government-reports-on-december-job-growth/2012/01/06/gIQAv7lMeP_story.html
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Showing posts with label unemployment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unemployment. Show all posts
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Friday, September 10, 2010
Google Searches Show Job Trends
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It’s tough out there. No doubt about it. But after months of unrelenting gloom, there are glimmers of hope for job seekers.
Google Chief Economist Hal Varian is pretty confident the national economy is recovering, and he's not just basing that on government data.
According to the Washington Post, Varian says he can tell from Americans' search habits.
In March, the number of Google users searching for information about unemployment benefits or employment centers began to drop, Varian said. Overall unemployment has continued to climb, of course, but new jobless claims have declined since peaking earlier this year.
The temporary employment index, however, is ticking higher.
A former economist and professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Varian says that increases in temporary employment, a leading indicator for labor markets, typically precede a rebound in full-time hiring. That index has ticked up in each of the past four months.
What this means is that the temporary assignment has, in effect, become a “working interview”’ where candidates can prove their worth before the organization commits to increasing permanent headcount.
Additionally, organizations who are in the process of downsizing are now proactively working to find new employment options for their talented staff with stellar track records. This is resulting in very good candidates being immediately available at short notice, which is great news for other companies who are looking to recruit new talent for their own businesses.
Temp-to-perm placements are projected to be a continuing trend as job seekers recognize the opportunity to be able to make their mark—and employers take advantage of being able to evaluate their needs before finalizing job descriptions.
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It’s tough out there. No doubt about it. But after months of unrelenting gloom, there are glimmers of hope for job seekers.
Google Chief Economist Hal Varian is pretty confident the national economy is recovering, and he's not just basing that on government data.
According to the Washington Post, Varian says he can tell from Americans' search habits.
In March, the number of Google users searching for information about unemployment benefits or employment centers began to drop, Varian said. Overall unemployment has continued to climb, of course, but new jobless claims have declined since peaking earlier this year.
The temporary employment index, however, is ticking higher.
A former economist and professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Varian says that increases in temporary employment, a leading indicator for labor markets, typically precede a rebound in full-time hiring. That index has ticked up in each of the past four months.
What this means is that the temporary assignment has, in effect, become a “working interview”’ where candidates can prove their worth before the organization commits to increasing permanent headcount.
Additionally, organizations who are in the process of downsizing are now proactively working to find new employment options for their talented staff with stellar track records. This is resulting in very good candidates being immediately available at short notice, which is great news for other companies who are looking to recruit new talent for their own businesses.
Temp-to-perm placements are projected to be a continuing trend as job seekers recognize the opportunity to be able to make their mark—and employers take advantage of being able to evaluate their needs before finalizing job descriptions.
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