Accesswire (09/29/14)

Labor Smart Inc., a provider of on-demand blue collar staffing, has acquired the operating assets of Kwik Jobs Inc. and its two branches located in Alabama and Georgia. Terms of the all-cash acquisition were not disclosed. Labor Smart will close its existing Houston office and plans to re-enter the Texas market by way of acquisition in the near future, says Ryan Schadel, president and chief executive officer.

Conference Board News Release (09/30/14)

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in August, declined in September. The index fell to 86.0 in September from 93.4 in August. The Present Situation Index decreased to 89.4 from 93.9, and the Expectations Index fell to 83.7 from 93.1.

“Consumer confidence retreated in September after four consecutive months of improvement,” says Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. “A less positive assessment of the current job market, most likely due to the recent softening in growth, was the sole reason for the decline in consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions.”

Consumers anticipating more jobs in the months ahead fell from 17.8% in August to 15.2% in September, while those anticipating fewer jobs rose from 15.2% to 17.8%.

Bloomberg (09/30/14) Steve Matthews

The U.S. Department of Labor reported in May that employment exceeded the prerecession peak, but 29 of 50 states have not matched that threshold. For example, New Mexico had 4% fewer employed workers, ranking among the bottom 10% of states, and the weakest rebound in jobs has been in states central to the 2002-06 housing bubble and subsequent price collapse. Nevada, Arizona, and Florida are the furthest from their peak employment numbers, and Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio remain more than 50,000 positions short of that level. Regional concerns have hit several states hard, including New Jersey with its loss of casino and pharmaceutical jobs and New Mexico with its loss of U.S. government defense jobs.

Meanwhile, economic expansion in 12 of the 13 states leading growth has been spurred by the energy industry. IHS Global Insight economists say the state that will be last to exceed prerecession employment will be Michigan, in 2019. Auto industry jobs in Michigan are expected to be less important, a June Moody’s Analytics’ forecast says, as “education, tourism, green technologies,” and information technology “will become increasingly important.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (09/29/2014)

Texas factory activity increased again in September, according to business executives from 105 Texas manufacturers responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, rose markedly from 6.8 to 17.6, indicating output grew at a faster pace than in August. Other measures of current manufacturing activity also reflected significantly stronger growth in September. The new orders index, for example, rose from 2.5 to 7.5.

Labor market indicators reflected continued employment growth and longer workweeks. The September employment index posted a fourth robust reading, holding fairly steady at 10.6. Twenty-four percent of firms reported net hiring compared with 14% reporting net layoffs. The hours worked index rose to a five-month high of 9.5, indicating a stronger rise in hours worked than in recent months.