From the Herman Trend Alert (emphasis mine): In December, companies with fewer than 300 employees experienced employment growth of 1.54 percent, representing the largest percentage increase since June 2010. 1.54 percent? That is encouraging? I know, I realize there has been little to no growth, but 1.54 percent is almost as miniscule as it can be. This is the largest growth in 18 months. To say it is a difficult employment market would be a monumental understatement.
Continue ReadingNews From The Twilight Zone
From CNNMoney.com: A jobless recovery? Hardly. By historical standards, the labor market is recovering nicely — job growth has started earlier than in past recessions. I guess I was unaware of how good it is out there. I think this article comes with a large serving of Kool-Aid also.
Continue ReadingGood Sign, Bad Sign
As is so often the case in this economy, the market is sending mixed signals. From one article on abcnews.com: The economic strength, both in U.S. and international markets, plus cost cuts, higher rates and fuel surcharges led to a 33 percent increase in first-quarter profit. UPS boosted its full-year outlook when it pre-released its earnings two weeks ago. And one paragraph later: UPS Inc., also known as United Parcel Service, restructured its business over the last 18 months, cutting jobs in the process. The shipper doesn’t plan any significant hiring anytime soon, at least until the recovery is on more solid footing. Jobless recovery anyone? The difficulty is that… Read More
Continue ReadingJob Metrics
From a CareerBuilder.com email regarding the pork stimulus plan: By the fourth quarter of 2010, over 3,994,000 jobs are estimated to be created and/or saved due to the American Reinvestment and Recovery act according to Moody’s Economy.com. I’m all for efforts to create jobs in this economy, but I have heard this question asked before and it bears repeating: What tool measures “saved” jobs? There isn’t one, it is simply marketing propaganda. Granted, the qualifying word in the sentence is “estimated,” but the real issue is job creation. I think it was Peter Drucker who said if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. The focus this year and… Read More
Continue ReadingWhere The Jobs Aren’t
When the economy is in a downturn, most people wonder when will it bottom out. I’m not sure if we have bottomed yet or not, but Yahoo has a quick story listing the 5 cities that will lose the most jobs this year (speculative, of course): The New York area is expected to lose 181,000 jobs in 2009, the report said. Consulting company IHS Global Insight produced the report for the group. The Los Angeles area is expected to see 164,000 lost jobs, in part because of the huge drop in home prices that has punctured the California economy. After New York and Los Angeles, the Miami area is expected… Read More
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