ADP News Release (06/03/15)

Companies added new employees at a modest pace in May, according to a survey by Automatic Data Processing Inc. and Moody’s Analytics. Private payrolls rose by 201,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the April ADP increase was revised down to 165,000 from 169,000.

ADP says small businesses are driving job growth. Companies employing between one and 49 employees hired 122,000 new workers in May. Medium-size businesses with payrolls of 50 to 499 employees added 65,000 workers. Big firms with 500 or more employees added 13,000 workers. The service sector hired 192,000 new employees, the construction sector hired 27,000 workers, and manufacturers cut 5,000 jobs.

“The job market posted a solid gain in May,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. “Employment growth remains near the average of the past couple of years. At the current pace of job growth the economy will be back to full employment by this time next year. The only blemishes are the decline in mining jobs due to the collapse in oil prices and the decline in manufacturing due to the strong dollar.”

Conference Board News Release (06/03/15)

Online advertised vacancies rose 83,100 to 5.4 million in May, according to the Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series. The April supply and demand rate stands at 1.59 unemployed for each advertised vacancy with a total of 3.2 million more unemployed workers than the number of advertised vacancies. The number of unemployed was 8.5 million in April. The significant drop in the supply and demand rate has been helped by very strong employer demand, ranging from four million to five million ads each month over the past 4 years. With the recession’s unemployment numbers finally down significantly, the continued high employer demand at five million ads per month will make the job search for new entrants into the labor market much easier.

“Following a very strong January and February, the growth in online vacancies has been basically flat over the past three months,” says Gad Levanon, managing director, macroeconomic and labor market research. “Still, even with the recent three-month pause, the 2015 growth rate has significantly outpaced the 2014 growth rate during the same time period.”

Associated Press (06/02/15) Josh Boak

U.S. factory orders fell in April, an indication that manufacturers are struggling amid cheaper oil and a strong dollar. Orders declined 0.4%—the eighth decline in nine months—according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Orders for durable goods fell 1%, and demand for nondurable goods rose just 0.2%.

Meanwhile, there are indications that manufacturers have responded to the changing conditions. Energy firms reacted quickly to oil prices falling below $60 a barrel, and the impact of the sector’s layoffs and canceled orders has largely been processed by the economy.

Reuters (06/02/15) Sruthi Ramakrishnan

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to increase the minimum wages for more than 100,000 U.S. employees, its second wage increase this year. The retailer said in February that it would boost the minimum wages for 500,000 U.S. employees. McDonald’s, Target, and TJX Cos. also have increased wages as they struggle to retain employees, who switch between the retail and fast food industries as the labor market improves.