G. Palmer & Associates predict a 5.0% increase in demand for temporary workers in the United States for the 2012 first quarter (compared to the same period in 2011).
Founder and managing director of G. Palmer & Associates, Greg Palmer, notes the 2012 first quarter forecast marks the ninth-consecutive quarter of year-over-year increases in the demand for temporary workers.
The numbers of additional temp jobs have largely increased from 2009 to 2011; representing a trend expected to continue into 2012. The Labor Department reported 1.64 million non-farm jobs created in 2011.
Despite the encouraging statistics, Palmer urges us to remember between 2008 and 2009 the economy lost 8.7 million jobs. The labor market is improving but with uneven distribution of new job growth. Lowered consumer spending has created challenges for workers in real estate and construction markets and has led to governmental job cuts.
Who is affected?
The overall unemployment rate has declined to 8.5%. Workers with college degrees have experienced a slight decrease (0.1%) in their unemployment rate from November to December. Workers with less than a high school degree have experienced a slightly risen unemployment rate (0.5%) from November to December. Of those that are unemployed and underemployed due to economic reasons, their unemployment rate has also decreased (0.4%) from November to December.
What to expect
G. Palmer and Associates expects unemployment to remain high for the new few quarters. The high rate is primarily due to the skills gap found in available workers.
All information comes from The Palmer Forecast and is based on BLS and other key indicators.
Source: News release, www.GPalmerandAssociates.com Image: comerecommended.com