Unemployment. Hiring Trends. Staffing Industry
According to a report by ADP and Moody’s Analytics, job growth slowed in October, and the private sector added just 130,000 new positions, which is below the average of the last twelve months. Small business growth was also down from the previous month, while payrolls among large enterprises showed an increase. Per the sector details, goods-producing employment rose by 24,000 jobs, construction payrolls added 14,000 jobs, and manufacturing payrolls increased by just 5,000.
The bigger news released by the economic-forecasting firm Capital Economics, reports the U.S. unemployment rate numbers will rise in October from 7.5% from 7.2% due to the government shutdown. The unemployment rate for October will include furloughed government workers and private sector employees laid off by companies that relied heavily on federal contracts. Yet, the expectation is the unemployment rate will certainly fall this month, as a reflection of the federal and private-sector employees returning to work.
Additionally, the release of the third quarter GDP report was postponed until November 7th due to the government shutdown but the forecast predicts a 2.5% growth which all depends on the temperature of companies going back to business. There is speculation that hiring, spending and investment decisions were delayed from October to this month.
What this means for both the industrial and professional staffing industry; those staffing firms coming out ahead must best locate, filter and train the workforce from an abundant pool of available candidates. The record levels of unemployment and underemployment bring an opportunity for staffing firms to position themselves to help bring about social good in guiding the individuals seeking employment.
