Bloomberg (03/02/12) David Wilson

Edward Yardeni, president of the New York-based investment advisory firm Yardeni Research Inc., says a hiring panic may erupt within the next few months. He says jobless claims indicate the ease of finding employment, and he cites statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor indicating that the four-week average of unemployment benefits applications has tumbled to a four-year low of 354,000. Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents in the Conference Board’s consumer-confidence surveys stating that jobs are hard to get dropped to 38.7% in February, after hovering in the 42% to 49% range over the past three years. Yardeni says, “More companies are having trouble finding the employees they need.”