Daily Journal (Missouri) (04/03/13)

Farmington, MO-based Workforce Employment Solutions has announced that, as of March 15, it was acquired by Employment Control Inc., a North Carolina-based staffing company. Current Workforce president and founder Marlene Brockmiller will be stepping aside to pursue other business interests. Current vice president Joe Rozier will move into the market president role for ECI and continue to lead the local team as well as work with the ESI’s business development team. Employment Control Inc. operates through the Employment Staffing Inc., Temporary Professionals Inc., and Talent Force brands in North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Maryland. Its financial partners, Nashville-based Harbert Mezzanine and Claritas Capital, have jointly provided more than $350 million to fund acquisitions over the last 10 years, and say they are committed to providing resources for the continued growth of ECI. This is ESI’s fourth transaction in 15 months as the company says it “continues an aggressive strategy of growth” in the mid-south and southeast.

Wall Street Journal (04/04/13) Ben Casselman

Although most economists think the U.S. economy has expanded at a rate of about 3.5% so far this year—a sharp rebound from the lackluster growth seen at the end of 2012—the expansion is not translating into more hiring. If Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor is mediocre, that would mean that despite fairly robust growth in February, the economy is adding jobs at a slower pace this year than it did a year ago, when payrolls climbed by an average of about 262,000 jobs over the first quarter. Companies added 2.4 million jobs from February 2011 to February 2012, but since then the full-year pace has slowed to a rate under 2 million as of February. Many economists say economic growth will slow later this year, hurting hiring prospects.

Associated Press (04/03/13) Christopher S. Rugaber

A report released Wednesday by the Institute for Supply Management indicated that U.S. service companies grew at a slower pace in March. The decline hints that companies may be exercising caution in the wake of federal budget cuts. ISM’s index of nonmanufacturing activity declined from 56 in February to 54.4 in March, the lowest level in seven months. Any reading over 50 points to expansion. The hiring gauge fell 3.9 points to 53.3, the lowest level since November.

Reuters (04/04/13) Lucia Mutikani

The number of people who applied for new unemployment benefits jumped 28,000 to a four-month high of 385,000 in the week ended March 30, the U.S. Department of Labor Department reported today, suggesting the labor market recovery lost some steam in March. The spike in claims adds to other recent reports suggesting that the pace of hiring in the U.S. has slowed. Meanwhile, the average of new claims in the last four weeks rose by 11,250 to 354,250 to mark a one-month high. Also, DOL said continuing claims decreased by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.06 million in the week ended March 23.

WOOD-TV8 (MI) (04/03/13)

The private staffing firm Midwest Air Traffic Control Services will take over operations at the W.K. Kellogg Airport control tower in Battle Creek, MI. Federal funding for the tower’s employees was cut late last month as part of the federal sequester. W.K. Kellogg was one of 149 airports nationally to lose control tower funding. A six-month, $200,000 contract with the private company is expected to be finalized on April 4. The city settled on a six-month contract because it does not believe private staffing is a long-term, sustainable solution to keeping the control tower up and running, says Battle Creek transportation director Larry Bowron.