My Recruiting Blog

Anyone in the midst of a job search received some good news today.

The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate declined from 10 percent to 9.7 percent during January. However, another 20,000 jobs were lost during the month.

The total number of unemployed people decreased to 14.8 million during January. Teenagers saw the biggest unemployment rate, at 26.4 percent, followed by blacks at 16.5 percent, Hispanics at 12.6 percent, adult men at 10 percent, Whites at 8.7 percent, Asians at 8.4 percent and adult women at 7.9 percent.

Gulf War era II veterans had an unemployment rate of 12.6 percent, while non-veterans had a rate of 10.4 percent. People with a disability had a 15.2 percent unemployment rate, compared with 10.4 percent for those with no disability. Foreign-born people had an unemployment rate of 11.8 percent, while native-born people had a 10.3 percent rate.

The construction industry lost 75,000 jobs during January, with nonresidential specialty trade contractors losing 48,000 workers, accounting for the majority of the decline. Construction industry employment has declined by 1.9 million workers since December 2007.

Employment in transportation and warehousing decreased by 19,000 workers, mainly due to a 23,000 job loss among couriers and messengers.

After several months of severe declines, employment in the manufacturing industry only dropped by 11,000 workers, mainly because of 23,000 job gains in motor vehicles and parts, and 6,000 job gains in plastics and rubber products.

Temporary help services increased by 52,000 jobs, and has added 247,000 jobs since reaching a low point during September 2009. Retail trade employment increased by 42,000 jobs, mainly due to a 14,000 job gain among food stores, a 13,000 job gain among clothing stores and a 10,000 job gain among general merchandise retailers.

Employment in the federal government increased by 33,000 jobs, including 9,000 temporary positions for the 2010 Census. However, more jobs were lost in state and local governments. Healthcare employment also continued to increase, with ambulatory healthcare services adding 15,000 job over the month.

Labels: Job Search