TrueBlue News Release (12/01/15)

TrueBlue has acquired workforce efficiency specialist SIMOS Insourcing Solutions. SIMOS provides on-site staffing solutions for several Fortune 500 companies.

ADP National Employment Report (12/02/15)

Private sector employment increased by 217,000 jobs from October to November, according to Automatic Data Processing. Goods-producing employment rose by 13,000 jobs in November, down from 22,000 the previous month. The construction industry added 16,000 jobs after gaining over 30,000 in each of the two previous months. Meanwhile, manufacturing rebounded from two straight months of shedding jobs to add 6,000 in November. Service-providing employment rose by 204,000 jobs in November, a strong increase from an upwardly revised 174,000 in October.

“Job growth remains strong and steady,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. “The current pace of job creation is twice that needed to absorb growth in the working age population. The economy is fast approaching full employment and will be there no later than next summer.”

Conference Board News Release (12/02/15)

Online advertised vacancies increased 232,000 to 5.7 million in November, according to the Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series. The October supply and demand rate stands at 1.45 unemployed for each advertised vacancy with a total of 2.5 million more unemployed workers than the number of advertised vacancies. The number of unemployed was around 7.9 million in October.

“Following a weak second and third quarter, employer demand has strengthened in the fourth quarter with two months of strong increases,” says Gad Levanon, managing director of macroeconomic and labor market research at the Conference Board. “In 2015, employers have continued to show high levels of monthly labor demand along with a moderate average monthly growth.”

Wall Street Journal (12/01/15) Anna Louie Sussman

U.S. factory activity in November fell to the lowest level since the end of the recession, as weak global demand and a strong dollar continued to buffet the manufacturing sector, according to the Institute for Supply Management. ISM’s gauge of manufacturing activity slipped from 50.1 in October to 48.6 in November, falling into contraction territory for the first time since the end of 2012 and marking the weakest reading since June 2009. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the index would increase to 50.5.

New orders dropped from 52.9 to 48.9. Hiring provided one of the report’s few bright spots. Factory employment rose to 51.3, after contracting in October.

Wall Street Journal (12/02/15) David Harrison; Kate Davidson

Employee productivity increased at a moderate pace in the third quarter. Nonfarm worker productivity rose at a revised 2.2% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the third quarter, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The increase was in line with the forecast of economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, third-quarter unit labor costs were revised up to 1.8% from 1.4%.

The increase in third-quarter productivity coincides with a boost in economic growth. Overall output rose 2.1% in the third quarter, up from an initial estimate of 1.5%, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.