Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd. News Release (05/13/2015)

Recruit Holdings reported revenues (net sales) of ¥1,299.9 billion for 2014, up 9.1% from ¥1,191.5 billion in 2013. Net income for the year was ¥69.7 billion, up 6.5% from ¥65.4 billion in 2013.

The domestic and overseas staffing segment had revenues (net sales) of ¥675.2 billion in 2014, up 10.2% from ¥612.4 billion in 2013. The domestic staffing segment had net sales of ¥389.5 billion, up 8.6% from ¥358.6 billion in 2013. The overseas (North America and Europe) staffing segment had net sales of ¥285.6 billion, up 12.5% from ¥253.8 billion in 2013. Human resource media-domestic recruiting had revenues (net sales) of ¥239.8 billion, up 5.9% from ¥226.5 billion in 2013. Human resource media-overseas recruiting had revenues (net sales) of ¥46.1 billion in 2014, up 85.1% from ¥24.9 billion in 2013.

Globe Newswire (05/13/15)

RCM Technologies Inc. reported revenues of $48 million for the first quarter of 2015, down 1.2% from $48.6 million in the first quarter of 2014. Net income totaled $1.4 million, up 16.7% from $1.2 million in the year-ago quarter.

Bloomberg (05/14/15)

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the week ended May 9 dropped by 1,000 to 264,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The 53 economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast claims of 273,000. The four-week moving average of new claims was the lowest since April 2000.

Wall Street Journal (05/14/15) Jeffrey Sparshott; Kate Davidson

The producer-price index declined a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in April from March, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, a sign of continuing low inflation. Core prices, which exclude energy and food, declined 0.2%. When excluding food, energy, and trade services, the index increased 0.1%. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast that both overall and core prices would rise 0.1%.

Overall producer prices are down 1.3% from a year ago, and core prices are up 0.8%. The decline in the PPI over the last year largely is due to the falling cost of crude oil.

Wall Street Journal (05/13/15) Jeffrey Sparshott

Although job creation is steady, consumer confidence is on the rise, and fuel is cheap, U.S. consumers remain wary. Retail sales barely budged in April and have been down or flat during four of the last five months. Instead of spending, Americans are saving money and paying down debt. Economic output estimates for the second quarter are being revised down by a variety of experts. However, 2014 also got off to a weak start but then experienced a sharp rebound.

“The disappearance of consumer spending in early 2015 has now become even more mysterious, as some of the excuses shopped around earlier, like bad weather, are looking more stretched with the passage of time,” says Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

Bloomberg (05/13/15) Meenal Vamburkar

California-based Facebook Inc. is boosting pay to a minimum of $15 an hour and increasing benefits for contract workers and vendor employees. They will be granted a minimum of 15 paid days off for holidays, sick time, and vacation. California’s minimum wage will increase by $1 an hour to $10 in January.

U.S. staffing firms place 14 million contractors a year, according to the American Staffing Association. Approximately 1.8 million are employed in the information-technology, scientific, and engineering fields.