New jobs report indicates strengthening employment growth

The latest U.S. Department of Labor jobs report is out and with it comes some positive news. American employers added 157,000 jobs in January 2013, and hiring at the end of 2012 was stronger  than previously thought – even as companies struggled with the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff.

In addition, the nation’s overall unemployment rate remained relatively the same from December 2012 to January 2013, according to the Department of Labor.

The hiring picture is gaining in complexity as experts look toward the hiring sputters that did occur in various industries. However, the overall hiring picture is looking stronger as payrolls increased and relatively significant changes in hiring trends. According to the Department of Labor, construction companies added 28,000 jobs in January 2013 and 100,000 over the past four months. Retailers also featured strong hiring, adding 33,000 positions in January, healthcare added 23,000 in the first month of the year and manufacturers increased by 4,000.

“The strong and steady job gains from retail trade and construction look a lot more like a normal economic expansion,” Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West, told KTUL News. “This is a sign that consumer spending is playing a far more important role in this expansion than it has so far.”

The slow and continued growth in employment indicates a return toward a healthy national economy. An interesting development is the slight decrease of the number of U.S. temp jobs in January – down 8,100. This is the first time that temporary hiring has seen a decline sine September 2012, according to Staffing Industry Analysts. In December 2012 the number of temporary workers increased by 9,100, in November it rose by 26,500 and in October the number increased by 9,000.

Despite the decline in January 2013, experts are still predicting that corporations will continue to depend on contingent employees as the economy continues to waiver. Staffing and recruitment firms are still filling their customers’ needs for long-term contract workers at a steady rate, which is expected to continue its previous trend – increasing a staffing agency’s need for an integrated system that can streamline internal workflow processes.

In the potentially convoluted staffing industry, where many variables combine and can create information overload, recruiting software can offer the right solutions and ensure superior customer service. By investing in a system that offers extensive tracking and reporting, a staffing firm can better ensure compliance with relevant governmental immigration, EEOC, tax and health-care laws as well.