MarketWatch (05/01/12)

Team Health Holdings Inc. reported net revenues of $478.7 million for the first quarter of 2012, a 16% increase compared with the same period in 2011. Reported net earnings were $14.4 million, compared with net earnings of $20.1 million in the first quarter of 2011. Projected growth in net revenue for the full year of 2012 has been revised to an expected range of 14% to 15% from the prior 12% guidance.

The company also announced the acquisition of the Exigence Group and its related entities. Based in Amherst, NY, Exigence provides care to approximately 500,000 patients each year through the management and staffing of 12 emergency departments, three hospital medicine programs, and eight freestanding, patient-centered urgent care centers operating under the name Immediate Care Centers. The group’s current operations are located in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Wall Street Journal (05/03/12) Jeffrey Sparshott; Eroc Morath

The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits fell last week for the first time in a month, down 27,000 to 365,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected 378,000 new claims. The drop was the biggest since May 2011 and follows three weeks of disappointingly high readings. The U.S. Department of Labor also reported the four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out week-to-week volatility, increased by 750 to 383,500.

Associated Press (05/03/12)

An Associated Press survey of 32 leading economists forecasts a gradually brighter job picture that will be strong enough to push the unemployment rate down to 7.9% by Election Day in November. The economists conclude the economy has entered a “virtuous cycle” in which hiring boosts consumer spending, which fuels more hiring and spending.

However, the economists think it will be at least three more years before unemployment falls below 6%, which would be a sign of a healthy economy. They predict the economy will grow 2.5% this year, up from 1.7% in 2011. The economists expect job growth to average 177,000 a month from April through June and 189,000 in the second half of the year.

MarketWatch (05/03/12) Jeffry Bartash

The U.S. Department of Labor reports a 0.5% decrease in U.S. productivity during the first quarter, less than the 1% drop predicted by economists in a MarketWatch survey. The manufacturing sector, however, experienced a 5.9% jump in productivity. The DOL reports a 2.7% annual jump in goods and services produced, a 3.2% gain in hours worked, and a 2% rise in unit-labor costs. It also shows a 0.9% inflation-adjusted decline in hourly compensation.

Wall Street Journal (05/03/12) Miriam Jordan

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has ordered 500 businesses “of all sizes and types” to submit their Forms I-9 and other hiring records for inspection. The order is part of DHS’ efforts to crack down on firms that hire illegal immigrants. Over the past three-and-a-half years, the Obama administration has audited more than 7,500 firms suspected of hiring illegal immigrants and imposed about $100 million in fines.

“The expanding rate and reach of I-9 audits is starting to chip away at the perception that only the most egregious employers are at risk of an enforcement action by ICE,” says Julie Myers, who was Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief during the Bush administration. “Companies in all industries need to be vigilant.”

NJ.com (05/02/12) John Barna

Heach Pang, the owner of All Pro Staffing in New Jersey, has pleaded guilty to employment tax fraud. From July 1, 2006, to Oct. 31, 2006, Pang failed to collect, account for, and pay over to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service about $54,852.33 of employment taxes.