Jobs creation rebounded last month with U.S. employers adding 261,000 in October. This resulted in the unemployment rate dropping to 4.1%, its lowest level since December 2000.
However, this was not a totally joyful scenario according to most economists, who expected 315,000 new jobs last month.
Unfortunately, as I shared the second part of this 4-part job creation series, one of the major tools governments are employing for job creation is cash incentives to recruit new jobs, companies and industries. This will probably be the centerpiece of the successful recruitment of Amazon’s second headquarters and expected hiring of 50,000.
Fortunately, there are better ways for recruiting more high paying jobs into the U.S. economy especially in the talent areas of R&D (research and development), scientific, engineering, IT (information technology), technical and manufacturing that my recruitment firm specializes in.
Labor Department Jobs Figures Satisfactory, But Not Great!
According to today’s Labor Department figures, wages rose only 2.4% from a year earlier, a slowdown from the prior month. The average hourly earnings for private-sector workers decreased by 1 cent or 0.04% last month to $26.53 an hour; falling short of economists’ expectations of a 0.2% monthly gain.
Though the Labor Department revised upward its September’s hiring figures, from the first drop in seven years, to a net creation of 18,000 new positions, a lot more needs to be done.
Additionally, service-sector employment, was the major contributor to October’s jobs growth. The leisure and hospitality sector added 106,000 jobs after losing 102,000 in September. This is versus high paying technology jobs requiring engineer, scientist, IT, R&D, technical and manufacturing professionals.
Finally, the share of Americans participating in the labor force fell by 0.4 percentage point to 62.7% in October, the lowest reading since May. In October, 6.52 million workers who wanted a job couldn’t find one. And a broad measure of unemployment that includes Americans stuck in part-time jobs or too discouraged to look for work fell to 7.9%, matching its lowest level since 2006.
A Better Job Solution: More Small Business Cultivation!
In my last article I offered two job creation suggestions: a) assisting entrepreneurs like Peter Rahal founder of RXBAR, which Kellogg Company recently purchased for $600 million and b) focusing more efforts on nurturing R&D, scientific, engineering, IT, technical and manufacturing talent.
Related to those two points the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Small Business Administration have compiled some interesting facts pointing to a greater need for small business cultivation. For example, were you aware that Small businesses create 2 out of 3 net new private-sector jobs?
Since the end of the Great Recession, small businesses (fewer than 500 employees) have created 62 percent (8.3 million) of the net new private-sector jobs (13.4 million), matching their historic rate over the last 25 years.
Additionally, existing businesses create close to 90 percent of new private-sector job gains. For both small and large firms, the bulk of new jobs are from expansions of existing firms. Observing the job gains over the last two decades, 87 percent of the job gains were from existing businesses and 13 percent were from startup business establishments.
As a result, a lot more needs to be done to both: 1) cultivate entrepreneurship and 2) assist on-going small businesses. This can include lower taxes and fewer government regulations that stifle entrepreneurs.
Additionally, more needs to be done to improve STEM education because future engineers, scientists and technical talent will create future technology businesses that will recruit the most jobs!
Final Part Of Jobs Creation Suggestions Coming Soon!
In my fourth and final part of this 4-part series on jobs creation ideas, I will offer another novel idea for boosting our job base. I hope you enjoy.
19 Responses
It’s good to see that science and engineering jobs are gradually increasing, especially in an economy where men are usually in the majority in STEM jobs. I hope to see a greater increase in numbers in the near future.
It’s good to see that job numbers are increasing, especially when males usually outnumber females in STEM fields. I hope to see more growth in the future.
Thanks for your insights Shreya. I greatly appreciate them.
-Scott
Thanks Shreya,
-Scott
Scott,
Thanks for inviting me to your website. I enjoyed all the work and effort you put into it. I would consider a working JV or partnership with an Aerospace or Electrical power generation company in the future.
Ronnie
Great to see these nice numbers. If I might add, women are 50% of the population, but not 50% of the STEM workforce. Are there STEM programs that target women to fill this funnel? I feel that this is the untapped part of the market that many companies are missing. Also, I believe cash is a huge issue in start ups succeeding. The availability of funding products to small food startups that show huge potential would help this sector in hiring talents. Great article!
Ronnie,
Thanks for your invitation and insights.
-Scott
Lin,
I greatly appreciate your insights. Wonderful ideas and comments.
-Scott
Interesting report. I like the conclusion: encourage small businesses. USA is doing a great job at this compared to other western countries (see Europe) but one can always do better.
Thanks for your comparison to Europe Michalis.
-Scott
Employers are looking for employees who can critically analyze data.
Personally, I don’t believe the 4.1% is an accurate unemployment figure. And even if that is true, how many people are underemployed? The government statistics are primarily based upon unemployemnt insurance claims. I think there are still a lot of people out there who are seeking employment, but struggle to find jobs. I also believe, there are a lot of companies out there struggling to find employees with the right skill sets. And finally, I believe there are many companies that can find employees with the right skill sets, but the prospective employee does not want to work for what a company has to offer in terms of wages and benefits.
Greg,
I greatly appreciate your comments and insights. They added a lot to my post.
Thanks again,
-Scott
Small business has historically and for all practical purposes will continue to be the driver to job growth. I am hopeful, yet remain contrarian that the tax environment will improve in the short term so that Sub S corporation ownership will not be carrying such a heavy tax load.
Working directly within industry trade groups with Federal governmental agencies, I see first hand the significant impacts on employment via non-legislative agendas, and we should all be concerned about the true costs to business, including employment; be understanding that the claims of improvement can be overstated by ideologies.
The discussion on gender in STEM fields is interesting, I wonder, what do the feeder universities show as entrants into the STEM fields from a gender perspective?
Dale,
I greatly appreciate your comments on my recent blog.
Thanks again,
-Scott
What an insightful article! Great job. I’ve been looking for an IT job for 5 years and, after applying to 582 opportunities, have received zero interviews. My background is impeccable, education immaculate. So what’s driving the rejections? Age discrimination. I’m almost 50 and no company wants to hire me when they can hire a college grad for 1/2 the salary. It’s a very sad statement on today’s American businesses and how they operate.
Doug,
I appreciate your insightful comments.
Thanks again,
-Scott
Thank you Scott for the insightful article. I too believe changes to help cultivate entrepreneurship and assist on-going small businesses are needed to stimulate growth & to build talent in the US marketplace. Very interesting statistics relative to where new jobs are generated. I am curious how the growth of the gig economy will change our view on employment for specialized technical skills and how our laws will change to encourage growth in these types of jobs.
Paul,
I appreciate your insights.
Thanks again for sharing,
-Scott
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