Bright Spot in Downturn: New Hiring Is Robust

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Everyone knows the grim news — unemployment in the United States has jumped to 8.5 percent, a 25-year high, and is racing toward double digits. Since November, the nation has lost more than three million jobs.

But not everyone knows the brighter side to the equation: deep in the maw of the deepest recession since the Great Depression, millions are still being hired.

So, while 4.8 million workers were laid off or chose to leave their jobs in February, employers across the country hired 4.3 million workers that month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“The best thing you can say about these numbers is it speaks to the dynamism of the U.S. economy, and the net negative number that we all traffic in masks that,” said Robert J. Barbera, chief economist at ITG, a research and trading firm. “Ninety out of 100 people who know the number — 650,000 were lost in February — think that means no one was hired and 650,000 were fired.”

In February — before the economy started to show the first faint signs of a possible recovery — there were three million job openings nationwide. And despite large new job losses likely to be announced Friday, there are still millions of job openings.

...

Economists and job counselors advise the unemployed that there are definitely jobs to be had, even if there aren’t nearly enough to go around. With 13.2 million people out of work, there are 4 1/3 unemployed Americans for every job opening. “You’re facing more competition for every job you apply for, but the reality is there is a lot of hiring going on,” said Andrew M. Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. “You’re never going to find anything unless you apply.”

Even industries that have taken a beating are doing plenty of hiring. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction companies hired 366,000 workers in February, and manufacturers hired 249,000. Retailers hired 536,000 workers in February, but that was down 25 percent from the previous February.

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The University of Miami medical school is also facing an unexpected problem. “There’s a flood of applicants, but even so, it’s harder to find really good, experienced people,” said Paul Hudgins, its associate vice president for medical human resources. “We’re seeing people hunkering down and saying they’re going to stay where they are.”

The recession has encouraged people to cling to their jobs. Just 1.5 percent of workers voluntarily quit their jobs in February, the lowest level since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began collecting those numbers eight years ago.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/2009050...iring-Is-Robust

[jundp 191]

I guess because we don't own a house right now I haven't been too affected by the economic downturn. P got a job after he received his greencard, and even got a raise this week. My job is secure and his job is secure. I keep reading and digesting information and I guess I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

ADP: U.S. companies reduced payroll in April by smallest amount since October

May 6 (Bloomberg) -- Companies in the U.S. cut an estimated 491,000 workers from payrolls in April, indicating the worst of the recession’s job losses may have passed, a private report showed today.

The drop in the ADP Employer Services gauge was smaller than economists forecast and the fewest since October.

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The ADP report was forecast to show a decline of 645,000 jobs, according to the median estimate of 28 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Projections were for decreases ranging from 560,000 to 733,000.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Is the author of the article stupid? All of the jobs profiled that people got rehired to do were slave wage McJobs. I would have taken it more seriously if the people were hired back into good paying fields, but they weren't. It is not a good thing that middle aged, displaced workers are storming Culver's.