Category Archives: News

Angott Search Group Analysis of the BLS Employment Situation Report

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The full report can be seen here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm.This morning, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 9.8 to 9.4 percent in December while 103,000 jobs were created. The private sector accounted for 113,000 new jobs, while government payrolls shed 10,000 employees, all at the local government level including both education and non-education positions. While falling far short of an ADP estimate earlier in the week of nearly 300,000 new positions, today’s figures are mostly in line with economists’ estimates. Furthermore, revisions to November’s figures show that 71,000 positions were created, instead of the 39,000 positions originally reported.

The average length of unemployment ticked up to 34.2 weeks, while median duration was nearly three months less, 22.4 weeks, indicating the continued difficultly for the long-term unemployed to re-enter the workforce. While the reduction in the unemployment rate by .4 percent is substantial, it was likely driven in large part by a nearly .6 percent drop in the participation rate between November and December. Such a drop indicates unemployed job seekers have stopped looking for work. Yet, with the high rate of unemployment, this tick could just be attributed to less motivated job seekers deciding to take a break for the holidays. The unemployment rate may jump back to 9.8 or even higher in January, as these job seekers begin their efforts anew in the New Year.

The increase in temporary positions has shrunk substantially, down to just 15,900 during the month, meaning a large majority of positions created in December were permanent. The professional unemployment rate shrunk to 4.6 percent from 5.1 percent in November. However, this change is mostly seasonal and matches what was seen in December 2009. The seasonally adjusted college educated unemployment rate shrunk to 4.8 percent from 5.1 percent.

Food services and drinking places saw some of the most stand out growth during the month, adding 24,500 jobs, indicating Americans increased willingness to go out to eat and drink. The wholesale and retail trades combined added 20,800 positions on a seasonally adjusted basis, likely as a result of increased holiday retail activity. Healthcare continued to add positions, posting a gain of 35,700 in the reporting period. Other industries did not exhibit substantial movement in either direction. 

 

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Angott Search Group

 

Today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Report

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The full report can be seen here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm.

Total U.S. non-farm employment rose by 151,000 positions in October, according to the Labor Department, while the unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent for a third month. In total, the private sector added 159,000 jobs, while the public sector lost 8,000 positions, with the most substantial loss being 14,200 non-education local government positions.
 
Of the 829,000 total gains in private sector employment over the last 12 months, 451,000 positions were with temporary staffing agencies. October, however, saw one of the most substantial gains yet in permanent positions, with additions spread across the services-providing sector. Seasonally adjusted, retail trade added 27,900 jobs from every category except building materials and gas stations. After an unexpected decrease of average weekly private sector earnings in September, earnings rebounded to an average of $779.64 per week in October.

 

 

The total number of unemployed people who were either laid off or completed temporary assignments fell to 9.1 million in October, the figure’s lowest level since April of 2009. Among workers who most recently held jobs in management, professional and related occupations, the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in October, down from 4.7 percent a year ago.
 
While October saw the first gains in total U.S. employment since May, private sector employment has expanded now for 10 consecutive months. Stimulus spending helped fuel a bump in private sector hiring in April of 241,000 jobs. Since then, the impact of stimulus spending has worn off; yet, private hiring has slowly increased its gains to the level we see today. Conventional wisdom says the United States needs to add in excess of 150,000 jobs to make up for the overall population growth, a rate we are at last achieving. Should private sector growth continue on the trajectory seen over the last six months, U.S. unemployment should begin easing in Q1 2011.

 

 

Brought to you each month by:

Angott Search Group

Senior Executive Hiring on the Rise in Q3

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Worldwide senior executive hiring was on the increase in the third quarter of 2010, according to a report released by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC). The yearly trend, from Q3 2009 to Q3 2010, was strong with both revenues and new search mandates rising across all regions and industry sectors (revenues +32 percent, new searches +18 percent). The quarterly trend, from Q2 2010 to Q3 2010, saw revenues increase by 2.4 percent, although the number of new searches declined (-5.3 percent). While the number of new searches started rose 18 percent annually, they fell five percent during the quarter. The quarterly picture of decreased searches but increased revenues indicates that AESC member executive search firms are working on a higher level of search assignment to position leaders at the very top of organizations. North America saw a 26 percent increase in search activity in the third quarter of 2010, against the same period a year ago, followed by Central/South America (+24.4 percent), Asia/Pacific (+14 percent), and Europe (+13 percent). “The third quarter statistics confirm the strong trends experienced since the beginning of 2010 and indicate a continuing resurgence in executive demand in many regions and sectors of the world,” said Peter Felix, president of the AESC. “The financial services and industrial sectors have shown the strongest growth, since they were the hardest hit by the recession and were the most likely to recover once the world trading system sprang back to life.”