The unique nature of the recovery – as well as a better understanding of pre-existing negative trends – presents clear cause for concern. Shrinking labor mobility and participation rates, stagnant wages, and a steady decline in new business formation are serious structural challenges that were exposed – and exacerbated – by the recession, contributing to one of the weakest recoveries in the past several decades.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 126,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department said Friday. That was the smallest gain since December 2013. The average monthly gain in the first quarter was 197,000, down from an average of 324,000 in the final three months of 2014.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting the labor market continues to expand at a solid clip even as economic growth has stalled.
The number was far below expectations. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal projected ADP would say 225,000 new jobs were added in March. The February ADP increase was revised 214,000 from 212,000
“A new white paper from CalChamber summarizes current employment law trends and offers practical advice for employers to minimize their potential workplace law liability. The white paper analyzes the “mixed bag” of employment law developments from new legislation and court decisions. “
Out of the 96,600 net jobs added in Los Angeles County last year, 25,300 were in the leisure and hospitality industries, according to the California Employment Development Department.
Most Americans agree that the future of the U.S. economy depends on the ability of its businesses to compete globally. One of the key factors that allow U.S. employers to grow their businesses and create new jobs is their ability to recruit and retain talent from other countries. How well does the current U.S. employment-based immigration system support this goal? Based on original research and analysis, Business Roundtable found that the United States falls short when compared to other advanced economies.
A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said that most people who get a new job weren’t seeking it. Instead, recruitment and referrals form the basis of the bulk of new hiring.
A new survey by the Society of Human Resource Management released Tuesday found about 14 percent of businesses have reduced part-time hours and another 6 percent plan to do so. Employers are reducing hours to avoid Obamacare’s employer mandate, which requires companies to provide health insurance to all workers that work 30 or more hours a week.
The legislation from Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, a Los Angeles Democrat, would increase the paid family leave program up to 10 weeks instead of the current maximum of six weeks, and would increase wages earned during that time on a new formula based on a worker’s regular wages.
Total jobs created in the 12 months ending Jan. 31 show California leading other states. California gained 498,000 new jobs, almost 30% more than the Lone Star State’s total of 392,900 for the same period.
California’s unemployment rate fell to 6.7% from 7% a month earlier and 8% in February 2014, according to the state Employment Development Department. The rate is at its lowest level since May of 2008.
“Much of California is still struggling: The strong dollar is depressing Central Valley agricultural exports, the lowest oil prices in years are squeezing the Kern County oil fields and extreme housing prices along the coastline are giving potential home buyers pause. But in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, those factors are fueling a growth spurt that’s already among the fastest in the state, according to a report released at an economic conference in Ontario on Thursday.”
The cost of housing — and concerns about commutes — are causing anxiety among Jindal’s clients. He recently had to revise a deal that involved recruiting a crack team of hackers for projects in Silicon Valley. Instead, partially based on the projected cost to lure them, he was forced to export the projects — and the cash infusion it would have meant locally — to a coding team in Dallas and Charlotte. . . “It’s very difficult. I just lost three servers to Texas, and one cook and a busboy to Oregon,” Rocca said. “They can’t make enough money to get ahead, so they spend every dime they make. So they left. They just didn’t like that.”
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its 2014 employment numbers Tuesday and sharply raised net job creation in California to nearly a half-million. The upward revision in California was accompanied by a downward revision for Texas, reversing what had been reported earlier to be a big edge for the latter.”
