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Posted on 05/07/2004 5:02:53 AM PDT by The G Man
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9 minutes ago
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WASHINGTON - The Labor Department (news - web sites) releases its report on unemployment for April at 8:30 a.m. EDT this morning.
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The nation's employers added 308,000 new jobs in March, hiring at the fastest pace in four years and providing long-awaited evidence the weak jobs market may be gaining steam. At the same time, the civilian unemployment rate bumped up to 5.7 percent.
Consumer confidence, which has been on a roller coaster ride this year, rebounded over the past month as Americans took heart from a gusher of brighter economic news, especially in the area of jobs. The AP-Ipsos consumer confidence index climbed to 87.4 in early May, up from a reading of 84.8 in April.
The productivity of America's companies rose solidly in the opening quarter of this year, and new filings for jobless benefits plunged last week to their lowest level in more than three years, good news for the country's economic health.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity — the amount an employee produces for every hour on the job — rose at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the January-to-March quarter, up from a 2.5 percent pace registered in the previous quarter.
Nope, no bias in this report!!
If a democreap were president, the lead in would read:
The __________ Administration created 308,000 new jobs in March, the fastest pace in four years and proving unequivocally that the weak jobs market, left behind by the previous republican Administration is gaining steam thanks to the new Administration's efforts.
"FReep eye for the liberal lie"
This is great news for America
That's GREAT news! I spent all of 2003 unemployed and pounding to pavement to no avail.
Finally had to leave the area (that's a bit of an understatement) for work and am kind of out of the loop on these things. Maybe the rest of my fellow layoff-ees can get decent jobs now.
sleep deprivation is my life...
| Yes. It is gathering steam. It is as if a dam finally broke.Personally,I am getting calls from all kinds of headhunters Now. Of course, where were they two years ago...Still, of the headhunters who call, most are new at it. Most of the old timers quit because the market for technical professionals was too weak. Companies which post on Monster and Career Link, and other outlets have not really responded to the applications.You might be able to attribute it to the priority list at the individual companies, but the report from the front lines is that the companies maintain an electronic presence on these sites so that they can "snag" candidates provided to them by recruiters. Then, when the recruiter asks for a fee, the company can negotate downward, due to the reasoning that the online resume was public domain. A word of caution here. Once you find a good Headhunter to work with, then no longer post your online resume as public domain on these websites. Another item of note is that while companies are now ACTIVE in looking for technical professionals, about 45% (my guess) are going low ball on salaries. I expect this to change as the year wears on. Medical and Automotive Second Tier Suppliers seem to be the worst offenders. The market for high end professionals is looking good, with ASAP requirements on the upswing. However, that only means that they have a spike in the demand and a back log of the met requirements for the last five year projected budget. Except some blood and sweat requirements... Entry level and low experience candidates is pretty stable. There has been no significant change in their hiring outlook. While it appears that large name companies have been hiring all along, the truth be known is that they have never really stopped the low end entry level hiring, but just simply tightened up the salaries and the acceptance process. Companies are trying to take advantage of the change in climate over the last 2 to 3 years. This is due to a number of factors, but mostly it is due to the massive exit of the recruiting industry. Most long and old timers who had the clout to negotiate salaries and relocation / benefits are not no longer working. Most exited about two years ago. The big name firms such as management Recuriters are in business, of course, but their old timers are no longer employed there. This lack of negotation experience has left the technical candidates at a degree of disadvantage. Relocation benefits are in abeyance, as is per diem and other relocation perks normally afforded to more experienced workers. The consumer appliance industry is hiring as well as the Automotive industry, which has been in a three year hiring freeze. While Oldsmobile won't rise from the ashes, expect an increase in hiring in the second and third tier supplier base. Management fads continue. Six Sigma experience as well as Black Belt certification are great buzz words to place on your resume. DFM (Design for manufacturing) and TQM (Total Quality Management) are also plusses. Most companies seem to have come full loop in the cross functional design team concept, with a matrix organization seemingly replacing that of a Flat Organization. IT hiring is still lagging. One must attribute this to the improvements of the computer operating systems. But, companies will continue to need to maintain an IT staff. Failure to do so could result in the kind of nuclear downfall as what happenned to "Square-D" in the 1990's. I personally expect a turn around in IT hiring by early summer. It is only in the North West, at companies with Unionized Employees that Technical Professional Employees are protected. Most are out of luck and there is no option but to take what is available ... for now. |
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