1. Positive Momentum Grows as
Fiscal Cliff Nears
Strong signals from the housing sector telegraph an end to our Submitted by: Joe Cianciolo, Senior Account Manager
downward spiral, and perhaps signal; that it is time to re- Management Recruiters of Cleveland-Southwest
evaluate our direction. >Experts in Global Search
(330) 273-4300 ext. 109
JoeCC@MRCSW.com
Home prices have now been rising for eight months, and are
now up more than 11 percent from a year ago, according to the
National Association of Realtors. The current supply on the
market fell 1.4 percent in October, representing a 5.4-month
supply, down from 7.6 months a year ago and the lowest level of
supply since early 2006. Contract Staffing –
Short-term solutions
VOLUME V | | ISSUE 12
If home prices continue to rise as expected it will have
significant impacts on the labor market in the coming year
and years ahead. The most direct result will be the increase for long-term goals.
in U.S. home construction. Not only did new home starts
jump at an annualized rate of 15 percent in September, In today's business environment, companies rely on a variety
existing home sales often also results in more construction of staffing to meet their organization's growing departmental
jobs as home owners renovate before selling or after needs. Cyclical growth spurts often require specialized
purchasing. external resources to partner with existing staff. As a client of
an MRINetwork office, you have the ability to contract a wide
range of professionals and take advantage of the many
“Construction employment is still down by 2.2 million jobs benefits a contract staffing solution offers.
compared to its pre-recession peak and has had virtually no
recovery,” says Rob Romaine, president of MRINetwork.
“Despite being less than 5 percent of the total U.S. workforce, product development, design, manufacturing, supply
December 7, 2012
that represents more than half of the 4.2 million jobs deficit from chain, marketing, and branding professionals and
the pre-recession peak. Any economic activity that can increase managers to create and sell products for the 2013
employment for the sector will have the most immediate effect of holiday season.”
reducing total U.S. unemployment and increasing U.S.
consumer spending power.” While the economy’s momentum continues to build, several
significant and fast-approaching storm clouds remain on the
Rising home prices will also add to U.S. spending power in horizon. Lawmakers have pushed several critical decisions
another way—increasing equity. The cumulative growth in home into the post-election season. Consequentially, before the
equity has added $760 billion in equity to the U.S. economy, new year, a lame duck session of Congress will need to
nearly equal to the $787-billion economic stimulus package revisit a series of temporary tax cuts set to expire, new
approved in early 2009. Yet, that program was phased in over taxes set to be levied to support the Patient Protection and
three years, whereas growing home equity will add another $1 Affordable Care Act (PPACA), expiring extended
trillion in the next year While home equity can’t immediately be unemployment benefits, a 30 percent reduction in Medicare
spent on groceries or a new TV, especially if a mortgage is payments to doctors, and the first of eight annual $109
underwater, it can make obtaining credit easier, and can make billion cuts in defense spending.
consumers more confident to spend the cash they do have.
Receipts from the holiday shopping season are just starting to No one expects the fiscal cliff to occur in its current form, but
be tallied but projections suggest total revenue in 2012 will grow what compromises will be made are still largely unknown,”
by 4.1 percent, above the 3.5 percent average growth in the last says Romaine. “Should the compromise be modest enough
decade. to prevent a double-dip recession, momentum in both the
residential real estate market and consumer goods sectors
“About 700,000 temporary retail jobs have been created this bode well for unemployment to continue to decline next year
holiday season, up from last year. But retail jobs are just the as demand for professionals across industries will remain
last position in a long chain of jobs created by Black Friday strong.”
and the weeks after it,” says Romaine. “Should projections
for a strong holiday season pan out, revenues over the last
Source: Department of Labor
five weeks of the year will spur a new round of hiring for
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2. Recent MRINetwork® Analysis
Employment Summary for From Housing Starts to thinking about
November 2012 House Cleaning…….
2013 has the potential to be a great year for corporate and personal
growth, but there is a danger the fiscal cliff will take us through
According to the Labor Department, 146,000 jobs were created another recession.
in November while the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 7.9 to
Now might be a great time to do some house cleaning while you
7.7 percent. While the number of jobs added exceeded the hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
consensus economist estimate of 86,000, the fall in
unemployment was largely triggered by a decreased Have you recently reviewed where you are in your career? Have
participation rate rather than the growth of employment. The you compared your current situation to your career goals? Personal
participation rate fell .2 percent with the number of discourage goals?
workers grew by 166,000.
If you have been in your role more than two years, have you
considered discussing your career with your manager? What will it
While job growth is still modest, there are indications that take to ascend to the next level? Is your department on track to
the quality of those jobs is improving. The number of achieve its goals? Are you assisting your managers in achieving
people working part time for economic reasons fell 168,000, their goals? What can you do now?
as those people presumably began working full time.
In terms of your staffing needs, you probably have a leaner staff,
The decline in the participation rate dampens the positive news but do you have all the talent you need? Many clients have found
they can reduce staff by increasing the talent on their team and
of a falling unemployment rate, yet the report doesn’t show any reducing headcount.
sign of the employment market sliding back. Almost across the
board, most industries saw some growth and very few saw If you are in a position of “use it or lose it” with your yearend
declines. Where there were declines, like construction (-20,000) budget for staffing, we can assemble a prime search and have your
and food manufacturing (-12,300), there is even reason to position filled before the end of the year.
suspect not an economic influence, but rather continued fallout
Meanwhile, if you have a specific need, and aren’t in a position to
from the storm which devastated much of the East coast in late
add permanent, think of using MRI to assist you with Interim
October. Executives.
While there was a decline in the participation rate on the whole We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your goals, needs or
in the U.S., among those with a bachelor’s degree the problems.
participation rate in November actually went up by .2 percent as
119,000 such workers found employment during the month. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah and Happy
Kwanza. May you enjoy the season and may the New Year bring
Because of the rise in participation, the unemployment rate of
you good health and happiness….and staffing solutions from
those with a bachelor’s degree, 3.8 percent, was unchanged in MRINetwork!
November but was down from 4.4 percent a year ago. The
participation rate fell by .6 percent for those with less than four
years of college, and .7 percent for those with no college, but a
high school degree.
The management, professional and related occupations
unemployment rate is currently down to 3.6 percent from
4.2 percent a year earlier. The sales and office occupations
unemployment rate is down from 8.2 percent a year ago to
7.2 percent in November.
The holidays tend to muddle unemployment statistics with high
retail hiring and would be job seekers easily discouraged from
job hunting during the holiday season. But with strong
headwinds—but literally and figuratively—November’s
employment seemed to hold its own. Yet, while we have grown
used to seeing strong end of the year numbers, labor market
observers will be holding their breath going into January to see
the rate of employment gain can continue, or even grow during
the first quarter.
Provided by MRINetwork www.MRCSW.com