American Staffing Association (02/07/12) Alexandra Karaer

Recent employment data, released last Friday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that search and placement employment in December was down 0.2% from November, totaling 280,200 for the month. In a year-to-year comparison, December employment was up 8.7% from the same month in 2010.

BLS employment estimates for search and placement firms are available on a nonseasonal basis only, and reports lag by one month.

PRNewswire (02/06/12)

Adecco Staffing US has released its annual Job Market Perspectives white paper. While 2011 started with cautious optimism for job growth and the risk of a double-dip recession, the economy was still able to average an additional 130,000 jobs a month and close out the year with the national unemployment rate at 8.5%. Based on this, 2012 will have to be marked with consistent job growth to continue the economic and labor market recovery.

Adecco’s 2012 Job Market Perspectives report examines both the current and future state of the labor market while also exploring how trends in U.S. economic development, as well as the upcoming presidential election, will impact America’s work force. “As we turn the corner on past economic troubles, we are optimistic about the potential of the job market in 2012,” says Joyce Russell, president of Adecco Staffing US.

MarketWatch (02/03/12)

Recording its biggest climb since the survey’s inception, the Randstad Employee Confidence Index was 52.4 in January 2012 from 47.4 in December 2011. U.S. workers continue to be optimistic about the economy and job market, as their macroeconomic confidence increased 8.5 points this month to 40.1.

“Economists’ expectation of a stronger and more stable U.S. job market created a strong jump-start for this first Employee Confidence Index of 2012,” says Joanie Ruge, senior vice president and chief employment analyst of Randstad Holding US. “We remain very encouraged that our latest U.S. Employee Confidence Index rose 5.0 points—the biggest increase since the survey began over seven years ago.”

Monster Worldwide Inc. News Release (02/03/12)

Online recruitment activity in the U.S. decreased for the third consecutive month in January, according to new data from Monster Worldwide. The Monster Employment Index fell sharply to 133 in January from 140 in December. However, the indicator climbed 9% from the prior year. In November and October, the readings were 147 and 151, respectively.

Dow Jones Newswires (02/06/12) Javier David

The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index found U.S. companies appeared to step up hiring efforts in January. The ETI rose 0.73% in January to 105.81, up from December’s revised figure of 105.04 and up 5.9% from the same period last year.

Despite the ETI rising for four consecutive months, the Conference Board expressed some caution. “We expect sluggish growth in economic activity in the first half of 2012 and therefore we do not foresee the strengthening of the labor market to be sustained in the second quarter of 2012,” even though job growth currently seems more robust, says Gad Levanon, director of macroeconomic research at the Conference Board.

Wall Street Journal Online (02/06/12)

A recent poll of 87 start-up chief executives by ExpertCEO indicates that 80.4% anticipate revenue increases this year, and 47.1% of these respondents think revenue will rise by more than 20%. The survey also shows that 55.8% of chief executives plan to increase their work forces this year. Only 5.8% expect their work forces to shrink, and 38.4% do not anticipate any work force changes.