Staffing Industry Analysts (05/23/23) S&P’s Global Flash US Composite Purchasing Managers Index points to a solid upturn in business activity this month, reaching a 13-month high. The index is now at a reading of 54.5, up from 53.4 in April. Services providers led growth, while growth among manufacturers was more muted. “The US economic expansion gathered further momentum in May, but an increasing dichotomy is
Staffing Industry Analysts (05/12/23) Economists mostly held steady in their forecast for growth in the US economy, according to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s Survey of Professional Forecasters report for the second quarter released today. However, they raised their forecast for GDP growth in the third quarter to 0.6%, that’s up from a contraction of 0.6% they forecast back in February. At the same time, forecasters
Staffing Hub (05/09/23) Hiring in the manufacturing and services sectors is easier now compared to last year, according to ISM’s Spring 2023 Semiannual Economic Forecast. The economic outlook survey included three special questions about hiring. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents in both the manufacturing and services sectors reported having difficulty hiring in the past six months. This is lower than the percentages in May and December of
New York Times (05/05/23) Smialek, Jeanna Average hourly earnings climbed by 4.4% in the year through April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compared with 4.3% in the previous month, and was more than the 4.2% that economists had expected. The increase in wages compared with the previous month—0.5%—was the fastest since March 2022. Pay for production and nonsupervisory workers climbed by
National Federation of Independent Business (05/04/23) Small business owners continue to struggle to find workers, with 45% (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reporting job openings they could not fill in the current period, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. The share of owners with unfilled job openings exceeds the 49-year historical average of 23%. Of those hiring or trying to hire, 92% of
Staffing Industry Analysts (05/02/23) US job openings in March were at their lowest level since April 2021, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of layoffs and discharges ticked upward as well. Job openings fell by 384,000 in March from February to approximately 9.6 million. “Demand for labor is cooling, and the dynamics of the labor
