Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Recession takes toll on US job vacancies

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-10 07:56

A man looks at limited job postings on a board at the Denver Workforce Center. Bloomberg News

Hiring plans by US employers for the first quarter of next year held near a five-year low, signaling a weak labor market will persist into 2009, according to a private survey.

Manpower Inc, the world's second-largest provider of temporary workers, said its employment gauge for January through March climbed to 10 from a reading of 9 in the last three months of this year, the lowest since 2003.

The highest jobless rate in 15 years, falling property values and the credit crunch signal companies are unlikely to expand. Cutbacks in consumer spending are pushing the US economy deeper into what may become the longest recession in seven decades.

"A majority of employers are carefully monitoring the uncertain economic environment prior to making any additional employment decisions," Jeffrey Joerres, chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Manpower, said in a statement.

Employers cut 533,000 workers from payrolls in November, the most since 1974 and the 11th consecutive decline, while the unemployment rate jumped to 6.7 percent, the Labor Department said last week.

Manpower's index subtracts the percentage of employers planning to cut jobs from those who plan to add them, and adjusts the results for seasonal variations. On that basis, the net employment outlook fell from 17 in the first quarter of 2008. The survey was taken in the last two weeks of October.

Employers in nine of 13 industries surveyed anticipated staff increases, led by mining and professional and business services. Construction employers had the weakest employment outlook, followed by manufacturers.

Agencies

(China Daily 12/10/2008 page16)