UPDATE ON EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREAS

From the Federal Reserve Board said “beige book” report (January 18, 2006) on current economic conditions within their districts:

For more information see: www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC/BeigeBook/2006/

Boston
“Business activity continues to expand in the first district, although this growth is not generally translating to increases in employment,” the beige book reported.

New York
According to the report, “The labor market has shown further signs of strengthening, for both office workers and factory workers.” A major New York City staffing firm reported that “the number of quality jobs far exceed[s] the number of quality candidates,” with most recruiting activity occurring in financial and legal services.

Philadelphia
“Employment agencies and temporary help firms indicated that demand for workers has picked up recently,” the beige book said.”

Cleveland
“Hiring still appeared somewhat limited throughout the district,” the report said, “though staffing services companies reported an increase in client orders, which was attributed to expectations of ongoing economic expansion in 2006.”

Richmond
District staffing firms “continued to report generally strong demand for workers,” the book said. “Skilled manufacturing, administrative, and customer service employees were among the most highly sought worker categories across the district.”

Atlanta
“Economic activity continued to expand at a solid pace,” the beige book said. “Reports suggest that regional labor markets continued to firm, with the demand for skilled workers in the construction industry particularly strong.”

Chicago
“Employment continued to increase in many locales and in a wide range of sectors,” the book reported. “Staffing services firms reported that temporary hiring picked up steadily again in most areas.”

St. Louis
Economic activity in the district has “expanded modestly,” the report said. Growth was noted in the services sector.

Minneapolis
District employment “increased slightly,” the beige book stated, “with optimistic signs for future hiring noted.”

Kansas City
“The 10th district economy expanded moderately,” the report said. Manufacturing activity “expanded solidly” and “factory activity is expected to continue to grow in the months ahead.”

Dallas
“The labor market continues to slowly tighten,” the book said. “Workers with specialized skills remain in short supply,” and “temporary service firms say a very high percentage of workers are obtaining full-time positions from initial short-term contracts.”

San Francisco
The district’s “economy continued to expand at a solid pace,” the book reported, noting labor shortages in the energy sector.

STAFFING IN 2006 STARTS AT A FAST PACE

According to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

$16.41
Employees average hourly earnings across the United States.

4.7%
The unemployment rate. Dropped from 4.9% in December and is at its lowest level since July 2001 when the rate was 4.6%.

7.6%
Increase in payrolls, for temporary help firms over the same month in 2005.

14,300
Number of jobs added to the payrolls of temporary help firms in January.

193,000
Nonfarm payroll employment increase in January 2006. This was below most economists’ predictions of nearly 250,000.

2,650,000
Total number of staffing employees—the highest number recorded for the month since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the industry.

For more information see: www.bls.gov