Kelly Services has acquired Insight, a Cherry Hill, NJ-based education service staffing firm that has partnered with school districts in Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Insight will merge with Kelly Education.

The wholesale cost of goods and services barely advanced in December, suggesting there was little inflationary pressure building up at the end of 2019. The producer price index edged up 0.1% last month. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.2% rise. Wholesale inflation increased just 1.3% in 2019—half as much as it did in 2018.

The cost of goods rose 0.3% in December, with most of the increase linked to higher prices for gasoline. Energy prices increased 3.3% in 2019 but are still fairly low overall. Core PPI, which strips put food and energy, ticked up 0.1% last month. The 12-month core rate rose to 1.5% from 1.3%, but it’s much lower now that it was a year ago.

The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Index rose in December and now stands at 102.4, up from 101.7 in November. The index declined 0.3% from the prior month and is down 2.0% from a year ago. The professional occupational category experienced increases in community and social services (2.0%), health care practitioners (1.8%), architecture and engineering (1.0%), and computer and mathematical science (0.7%). The services and production occupational category experienced increases in farming, fishing, and forestry (3.9%), building and grounds (3.6%), health care support (2.5%), and personal care and service (1.4%).

Business activity grew to a small degree in New York State, according to firms responding to the January 2020 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index was little changed at 4.8. New orders and shipments edged higher. Delivery times were somewhat shorter, and inventories held steady. Employment continued to expand, though the average workweek was unchanged. Both input prices and selling prices increased at a significantly faster pace than in December. Optimism about the six-month outlook remained subdued, and capital spending plans remained firm.