June Jobs Report – Great New for Recruiting Industry

Almost every month the Jobs Report is great news for recruiting. As the labor pool shrinks because unemployment is so low, the need to find top talent is often outsourced to Executive Search agencies.

Additionally, the baby boomers are starting to retire and the millennial’s are having fewer children and not replacing themselves. This is a contributing factor to the shrinking labor pool.

THE US ECONOMY BOUNCED BACK FROM MAY’S LOW GROWTH NUMBERS.

The U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs in June, surpassing economists’ estimates and rebounding from May’s disappointing growth numbers.

Here are some of the highlights from the report.

1. Lots more jobs

Job creation in the US picked back up this month, adding a total of 224,000 new jobs.

MarketWatch: “The U.S. added a robust 224,000 new jobs in June, rebounding from a recent lull and calming worries about the health of an economy now entering a record 11th year of expansion. The increase in new jobs easily beat the 170,000 forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch.”

USA Today: “Professional and business services led the job gains, with 51,000. Health care added 35,000 jobs; transportation and housing gained 24,000 jobs; and construction increased by 21,000 jobs.”

The New York Times: “Notably, the manufacturing sector added 17,000 jobs after two straight months of adding a mere 3,000.”

2. Wage growth continues to fall short of expectations

While average hourly earnings did rise slightly, the increase fell short of economists’ expectations.

CNN: “The one still-disappointing number: Average hourly earnings, which rose 3.1% from a year earlier, slightly lower than forecast. While still beating inflation, wages should be growing faster this late in the business cycle, as employers compete to attract workers.”

Vox: “Yet all this good news doesn’t mean much to middle- and working-class families: Workers only got an average hourly pay raise of 6 cents in June, even less than they got in May. Job security is the only benefit employees can count on these days.”

3. Unemployment increased, but in a good way

The unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in June, though this was likely due to a higher-than-usual 335,000 people entering the labor force this month.

CNN: “Adding to the positive story, 335,000 people entered the labor force in June — substantially more than usual — which may have been what pushed the unemployment rate up slightly. It’s a remarkable feat for an economy that has been soaking up workers for 106 straight months, and an indication that people are still finding reasons to go back to work.

CNBC: “The labor force participation rate increased one-tenth to 62.9%, its best since March, pushing up the headline and “real” unemployment rates. The total labor force increased by 335,000 to just under 163 million while those counted as not in the labor force fell by 158,000 to 96.1 million.”