Analysis of the BLS Employment Situation Report June 2014 Employment
VOLUME 8
| ISSUE 7
The full report can be seen here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm.
Hiring figures for June were again strong, with the economy adding jobs above the already-high three-month average. According to an employment report released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment rose by 288,000 over the month, compared to the average of 272,000. Job growth was seen in a wide range of industries, indicating that the economy may be picking up as a whole. Professional and business services led the gains, adding 67,000 positions last month, beating out the 53,000 yearly average. Retail and food service also showed impressive gains, with 40,000 and 33,000 new workers, respectively.
JULY
|
2014
Healthcare, which has shown strong growth even when many sectors were declining, continued its upward trend by adding 21,000 employees, edging out its 12-month average of 18,000.
mixed growth over the month. The civil engineering and heavy construction sector lost nearly 1,000, employees, but architectural and engineering services employers gained nearly 7,000. Strong employment performance in June shattered predictions made in anticipation of the BLS release. According to Reuters, economists forecasted a monthly gain of 212,000 jobs. Even that number would have demonstrated solid growth, marking the first time since the end of the 1990s that employment grew by more than 200,000 for five months in a row. Earlier this week, ADP released its own report, showing job gains of 281,000, Bloomberg reported. Since ADP releases only private sector figures, while the BLS also includes public employment, the latter report is always expected to be higher. Still, the fact that both reports showed employment numbers above their estimates is seen as a sign that the economy is capable of sustaining growth, beating the expectations of even the most optimistic economists. Data from the BLS showed employment growth 75,000 above predictions, while ADP's release revealed 76,000 more jobs than anticipated. The high number of workers starting jobs over the month pushed the unemployment rate down, despite the growth in people looking for positions that they represented. June's unemployment rate fell 0.2 percent to 6.1 percent. The rate of unemployed people in the labor market has been dropping since October 2009, when it reached its peak of 10 percent. Last month's figure of 6.1 percent is the lowest rate seen since September 2008, Reuters reported.
Small gains were seen in other critical industries. Oil and gas employers added 1,300 workers over the month, while mining employment grew by 3,700. Engineering professions showed
Chart 1. Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, June 2012 – June 2014
Chart 2. Nonfarm payroll employment over-themonth change, seasonally adjusted, June 2012 – June 2014
FIRST FRIDAY REPORT PRINCETONONE The Future of Contract Staffing Contract staffing, also known as temporary or contingent staffing, has long been a solution for employers to meet shortterm or variable staffing needs, while providing candidates with the opportunity to gain seasonal work or work between permanent positions. Temporary employees are no longer viewed as just being lower-level, non-essential and lesscommitted workers. In fact, the recession of 2008 introduced many companies to the value of having contractors as a significant portion of their workforce. As the job outlook improves, contract staffing remains as a viable, growing workforce solution for not only satisfying administrative needs, but also engaging senior-level staff, in a cost-effective manner for strategic, leadership expertise. Contract staffing is becoming such an integral part of the workforce that Staffing Industry Analysts predicts 50 percent of the workers at Fortune 100 companies will be contingent hires by 2020. While every employer’s need for contract workers will vary, they will increasingly need to think about how to implement an effective recruitment strategy that provides the right mix of contingent and permanent workers to move their organization forward. According to Staffing Industry Analysts’ Temporary Staffing Trends, Development and Forecasts webinar, the U.S. temporary staffing market is projected to experience 5 percent growth in 2014 and 4 percent globally. PrincetonOne offers the following advice for implementing an effective contract staffing recruitment strategy: Include discussions around the workforce mix in annual company-wide strategy sessions. Companies should be considering the contingent labor that will be required to drive the organization’s strategy instead of waiting until demands become too much, or out of the scope of work performed by permanent staff. Simply put, consider if you have everyone needed on board to accomplish company goals. Don’t disregard contract talent as only short-term workers. While contract talent are frequently hired for project-based work or short-term, mission-critical initiatives, there is a large pool of highly-skilled, contract talent that is increasingly being hired for projects that last several months or even years. Many of these top performers also prefer contract staffing for the same reasons companies do: work flexibility and the ability to demonstrate expertise in a given area. Utilizing contingent workers in this manner, makes it advantageous for employers to solve temporary workforce needs in a more cost-effective and efficient manner. Consider your industry and the variances in workflow that happen throughout the year. Industries that are highly
susceptible to fluctuations in workflow are information technology, electronic patient records implementation, healthcare information technology and pharmaceutical/life sciences. Having variable staffing expenses will allow you to better control your costs. Partner with a staffing company that has expertise as a single source solution provider for contract and permanent assignments. When bringing in the best talent is the goal, working with a staffing organization that understands your industry, has relationships with top candidates and has your company’s best interest in mind, can provide you with the competitive edge to recruit the top performers in your market, whether on a permanent or contract basis. As entities that remain current on constantly changing contract labor regulations and handling payroll and other back offices responsibilities, staffing organizations take much of the risk out of contract staffing, while helping you implement effective recruitment strategies. As we move towards the 2020 workforce, companies are becoming more quality-focused as opposed to work outputfocused.
