Hire Velocity » unemployment

The Varying Unemployment Rate of Different Occupations

Byron West — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:49:31 +0000

You may have read our article last month that boasts about the unemployment rate falling to 9 percent, the lowest since April 2009. This is potentially good news for many looking for jobs right now. However, this unemployment rate changes based on occupation. Some positions are going to have a much lower unemployment rate, while other will have a significantly higher rate.

The 10 occupations with the lowest unemployment rates range from .4 percent to 1.0 percent. 5 of the 10 occupations with the lowest unemployment rate are in healthcare showing that this industry is growing. The 10 occupations with the lowest unemployment rates are:

Appraisers and assessors of real estate: 0.4%
Therapists, all other: 0.4%
First-line managers of police and detectives: 0.4%
Locomotive engineers and operators: 0.4%
Directors, religious activities and education: 0.8%
Dentists: 0.8%
Speech-language pathologists: 0.8%
Detectives and criminal investigators: 0.8%
Physicians and surgeons: 0.9%
Occupational therapists: 1.0%

On the other hand, there are some occupations that are seeing a significantly higher unemployment rate. Of the 10 occupations with the highest rate, 7 are in construction. The 10 occupations with the highest unemployment rates are:

Helpers, construction trades: 36.0%
Telemarketers: 34.8%
Structural iron and steel workers: 28.4%
Roofers: 27.1%
Millwrights: 25.5%
Cement masons, concrete finishers and terrazzo workers: 25.3%
Brickmasons, blockmasons, and stonemasons: 25.1%
Construction laborers: 25.0%
Drywall installers, ceiling tile installers, and tapers: 23.9%
Interviewers, except eligibility and loan: 23.4%

*Information last updated January 12, 2011

Goldstein, Jacob. “Which Jobs Have The Highest And Lowest

Unemployment Rates?.” NPR (2011): n. pag. Web. 2 Mar 2011. .

Unemployment rate falls to 9 percent; lowest since April of 2009

Byron West — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:11:25 +0000

2010 was a difficult year for those looking for a new career with a high unemployment rate and a competitive job environment. Open job positions are getting flooded with a large amount of applications making it more difficult to get chosen. However, President Obama is proud to announce that the employment rate fell to 9% in January, down from 9.4% in December. This could be a good sign for the upcoming year with hopes that the unemployment rate continues to decline.

But it is not all good news; only 36,000 jobs were added overall. This is lower than projected, meaning that people may have dropped out of the job market. However, the White House is staying positive saying, “The 0.8 percentage decline in the unemployment rate over the past two months is a welcome development… However, the rate remains unacceptably high.” The Obama administration will continue to work towards a lower unemployment rate and more jobs being added.

Source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/02/obama-gets-good-news-bad-news-on-jobs/1

Stronger Employment Trends Expected in 2011

Byron West — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:03:21 +0000

The unemployment rates in 2010 have been the highest in well over twenty years. It has been a difficult year for the unemployed who have had trouble finding a position in their field. With many mass layoffs by United States based companies, the job market has become extremely competitive. There have been a record number of applications for many open positions, which makes it difficult to land a career in your specialized field.

However, stronger employment trends are expected in 2011. Harris Interactive conducted a survey of more than 2,400 hiring managers and human resource specialists. The results of this survey concluded that more employers plan to add more full-time employees in 2011 than in 2010. Job creation will be gradual, but steady, so the change in hiring may not become immediately apparent. Matt Ferguson of CareerBuilder explains that, “More than half of employers reported they are in a better financial position today than they were one year ago.” This is a good improvement and will allow these companies to hire more employees in 2011.

The results of the survey showed that 24% of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent in employees in 2011. This is an improvement from the 20% who said they plan to hire in 2010, and 14% in 2009. 13% of employers said they expect to hire part-time employees in 2011, which is up from 11% in 2010 and 9% in 2009.

Some fields will be in higher demand during 2011 than others. The top 10 fields can be seen below:

1) Sales – 27 percent
2) Information Technology – 26 percent
3) Customer Service – 25 percent
4) Engineering – 21 percent
5) Technology – 19 percent
6) Administrative – 17 percent
7) Business Development – 17 percent
8 ) Marketing – 17 percent
9) Research/Development – 15 percent
10) Accounting/Finance – 14 percent

“Stronger Employment Trends Expected for the New Year, According to CareerBuilder’s 2011 Job Forecast.” ShareBuilder (2010): n. pag. Web. 26 Jan 2011. .

Good News for the Recruiting Industry!

Byron West — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:37:54 +0000

On Thursday March 18, President Obama signed into action a new bill, which will directly affect the staffing industry over the next few years. Our industry has taken one of the largest hits over the past two years, since many companies reduced their hiring initiatives, which left many staffing and recruiting companies with half the volume they were used to in prior years. However, President Obama has made it one of his top concerns to get the whole country and economy back on its feet, starting with reducing unemployment. February saw little progress in decreasing nonfarm unemployment. The current unemployment rate has remained at 9.7% and February only saw 36,000 more employed Americans in comparison to January. The new bill will directly respond to these sluggish numbers by creating $18 billion in tax breaks for companies who hire in the next year. The bill is proposed to create 250,000 new jobs over the next year. Although that may not seem largely significant, it will bring new business for the recruiting industry, something that we can all look forward too!

Byron West
President
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Generation Y

Byron West — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:41:57 +0000

As we look forward to emerging out of this recession and reducing unemployment, a new and highly anticipated generation of employees is moving into the workforce. There seems to be a lot of skepticism about how effective the “me” generation will be. Growing up in a culture centered on instant gratification and focused on efficiency, this new generation of the workforce will bring a new set of cards to the table. No longer is the time dedicated to a job, a justified means to being promoted. Generation Y will now see their performance as the most justified reason for upward mobility in the company. In addition 35% of Generation Y employees wish to communicate with their boss several times a day. What is to be expected from these new employees should be clear, obtainable, and concise. Focused on efficiency, the more communication will be essential in obtaining the optimal performance from new workers.

In addition, Generation Y, or the “me” generation, seeks to obtain the security and status their parents obtained much earlier in life. In a recent survey Generation Y respondents ranked “working with a manager I can respect and learn from” as an 8.74 on a 10 point scale. With most new employee’s eyes set on upward mobility, the ability to gain wisdom from their managers is becoming ever more crucial. Skepticism about this new workforce has led Generation Y to be referred to in a negative connotation. However, I believe that the new mold of employees can bring new effectiveness to companies through their aptitude with technology and ambition to jump through the necessary hoops to achieve success. Most of Generation Y has grown up with computers and has become extremely proficient at navigating the Internet. Their awareness with new developing technologies will bring technology options that may have gone unnoticed. Nevertheless, with the new employees coming into the workforce, I think we can all anticipate what Generation Y will bring to the table.

Resources:

Questions and Answers about GENERATION X/‌GENERATION Y. www.bc.edu/‌wfnetwork. Sloan Work & Family Research Network, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. .

Byron West
President
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Temporary Employment On the Rise

Byron West — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:36:58 +0000

The American Staffing Association began compiling data related to temporary and contract employment in June of 2006. Since then, the ASA Staffing index has served as an indicator of the level of temporary employment across the country. During the early months of 2007 & 2008, temporary employment hovered around the 100-point mark. However, with the onset of the recession, we saw a steady decrease in the later months of 2008. This remains consistent with the previous state of our economy.

This past July, temporary employment hit rock bottom and has since risen 23%. The significant increase doesn’t seem very evident on the graph in comparison to previous years, but in contrast to the steady decline we saw in November and December of 2008, the increase is reassuring.

So what does this mean for businesses, the recruiting industry and the greater economy? Temporary employment has always served as a great indicator for the direction in which permanent employment will head. With temporary employment increasing throughout the past two months and a relatively small drop in temp employment in the last week of the year, we can expect unemployment to decrease in the near future. Since August of 2009, unemployment has remained around 10%, but as we begin the new year, temporary employment indicates that the unemployment rate will once again fall below 10%. A strong recovery is not clear, but a recovery nonetheless is nearing. With the beginning of a new year, we are excited to see a recovery in the staffing and recruiting industry.

Karaer, Alexandra. “BLS: Temporary Help Continued to Add Jobs in December.”
Staffing Week: n. pag. Web. 14 Jan. 2010.
.

Byron West
President
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With 10% of the team on the sidelines… What play will you call?

Byron West — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:34:35 +0000

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released that unemployment rose by 558,000 people to 10.2% in October. The 0.4% fluctuation from September’s (.8% unemployment rate brought into question the relapse of the economy and what the forecast for the future might be. However history has shown us that the last thing to decrease after a recession, especially one as severe as 2007’s, is unemployment (See Figure 1). As a result, it’s time to realize that soon, the economy will begin expanding again.

With projected growth in several industries topping over half a million in new jobs over the next seven years, its important to understand that the economy is in the process of bouncing back. Hospital Healthcare is projected to add almost 700,00 jobs by 2016, and the tech industry is expected to add almost 500,000. Thus, the current set-back, is nothing more than a set-back. With GDP growing, companies will soon be in search of new employees to relieve current workers of the stress that comes along with their increasingly heavy workloads.

Figure 1

Berchem, Steven. Annual Economic Analysis Puzzles Through the Data and Explains the Trends. N. pag. American Staffing Association, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

Byron West
President
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