Wall Street Journal (01/17/12) Aeppel, Timothy

Businesses have greatly increased spending on machines and software during this recovery, while at the same time moving slowly to add people to run them. A combination of temporary tax breaks that allowed companies in 2011 to write off 100% of investments in the first year and historically low short- and long-term interest rates helped push the longstanding trend of substituting capital for labor into overdrive.

Employers have added workers at a monthly rate of 142,000 for the past six months, half the pace needed to significantly reduce unemployment, which is now at 8.5%. Many economists say the ongoing surge in productivity brought about by investments in technology will in the long run create more jobs, but in the short-term, the burst of efficiency allows companies to delay hiring.

The trend toward using labor-saving machines and software is not limited to factories. W. Brian Arthur, an economist at Xerox Corp.’s Palo Alto Research Center, says businesses are increasingly using computers and software in the place of people in the service sector. “It’s not just machines replacing people, though there’s some of that,” says Arthur. “It’s much more the digitization of the whole economy.”

Bloomberg (01/17/12) Homan, Timothy

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports the Empire State manufacturing index rose in January to its highest level since April, reflecting improving orders, sales, and employment. The Empire State index rose to 13.5 in January—the highest level since April—from a revised 8.2 in December. Economists projected the gauge would rise to 11, based on the median of 56 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.

WXIA-TV (Atlanta) (01/17/12) Leslie, Jennifer

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is today launching a new program, “Go Build Georgia,” designed to bring down the state’s unemployment rate with more training for skilled trades. “It’s going to help tremendously,” says Beth Herman, regional director for ManpowerGroup. Herman notes she has a difficult time filling job openings for welders, machinists, and forklift operators. “It’s a real misconception that there are no jobs in manufacturing,” says Herman. “It’s not just manufacturing. It could be a pharmaceutical company that has a warehouse, or it could be a retail organization that has a warehouse. In that warehouse, there could be packers, shipping and receiving, forklifts, a person that has pallets around. It’s across all industries, not just in manufacturing.”

Richmond BizSense (01/16/12) Schwartz, Michael

Global Employment Solutions, a national staffing firm with locations in nine states and Washington, D.C., recently purchased Littleton, CO-based Fahrenheit Technology, a staffing firm with less than 100 employees. As part of the deal Fahrenheit’s management team and brand will remain. “They liked the brand. It’s interesting and has unique marketing opportunities,” says Fahrenheit president Jason Tate. “From a business perspective it means Fahrenheit now has a national footprint.” The deal “gives us a bigger capital backing and the ability to leverage contracts and relationships in other markets,” Tate adds.

Economic Times (India) (01/16/12)

Automatic Data Processing has acquired Randstad Holding’s Indian payroll business for an undisclosed sum to access the high-growth human resource business process outsourcing markets. Randstad’s Indian payroll business is handled by its subsidiary Ma Foi Consulting Solutions—which offers managed payroll services and social benefits administration to approximately 350 multinational and domestic clients—and has a team of around 200 associates.