Not Working for a Living

A great way to know the status of the job market is to judge the volume of ads in the daily newspapers across the country. This is a monthly survey provided by The Conference Board that gives some insight into how fast, slow or backwards the job market is becoming. The lastest survey is a mixed blessing in that employment advertising is remaining stable, but it is not suggesting a sudden spike any time soon.


"The Conference Board’s Help-Wanted Advertising Index – a key barometer of America's job market – dipped one point in March. The Index now stands at 39, down from 40 the previous month. The Index was 39 one year ago.

"In the last three months, help-wanted advertising increased in six of the nine U.S. regions. The largest increases occurred in the Middle Atlantic (19.0%), Mountain (14.7%), and New England (12.5%) regions.

"Says Conference Board Economist Ken Goldstein: "The national labor market was improving in the first quarter of 2004, although slowly. Even though want-ad volume dipped slightly in March, the overall direction remains positive, and so should job growth over the near term. The Conference Board’s Coincident Economic Indicator, an important measure of current economic growth, remained on a rising trend through March. And the Leading Economic Indicators suggest it could carry into the third quarter."

"The Conference Board surveys help-wanted advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country every month. Because ad volume has proven to be sensitive to labor market conditions, this measure provides a gauge of change in the local, regional and national supply of jobs."

Beware the voodoo that Lou do!

So says John Castellani, president of the Washington-based Business Roundtable, when discussing CNN's Lou Dobbs who has consistently spotlighted the issue of outsourcing jobs from the U.S. Castellani is upset about Dobb's focus on the issue and accuses the veteran newsman of "one-sided" journalism.

"It's as if whatever made Linda Blair's head spin around in "The Exorcist" has invaded the body of Lou Dobbs and left him with the brain of (Democratic presidential candidate) Dennis Kucinich," Castellani said.

Castellani isn't the only critic of Dobbs regarding his attention to outsourcing, but like many others, when given the opportunity to openly debate the issue with Dobbs on Dobbs own program, Castellani declined. In fairness, what executive is really going to want to put his company name in front of the defense of such a divisive issues, but don't go calling someone out in a speech if you're not willing to face the music later.

Dobbs has raised his stature with his "Exporting America" and "America Works" segments on his daily show. Dobbs also reportedly has a book in the works on the issue of outsourcing. Does this make his coverage unfair or one-sided? As always, it depends upon the perspective of the viewer. I've caught the program a couple of times and while much of the show's content is a rehash of both sides of the same argument for/against outsourcing, at least both sides are given equal opportunities to debate the issue without it deteriorating into usual verbal wrestling so popular with cable news shows.

Some people object to Dobbs' list of U.S. companies that are currently outsourcing, but where is the injustice in producing a list? Facts are facts whether it is a list of companies exporting jobs overseas or my list of unemployment rates per state or my Job Creation Scoreboard. It's not my fault Bush is behind in his pledge of 2.6 million jobs, it was his administration’s claim and it is their figures released on a monthly basis that make up the score.

The main argument in favor of outsourcing is it will create cheaper prices back at home allowing people to purchase more which will then spur companies to create higher paying jobs here in the U.S. However, I would have to agree with the outsourcing critics in pointing out that I haven't seen any of the above happen yet. Prices haven't fallen on anything, at best, they've remained stable. Purchasing power hasn't been a problem in this country for almost a decade, thus the rising costs of consumer debt. (My wife's mantra: Have card, will purchase!) The jobs created in the U.S. have mostly been in the lower paying service industry.

I would also like to see a study done on how many people who have returned to work are actually making as much in the same positions they held previously. There must be some reason software developers aren't buying as many Mercedes Benz as they used to, you know.

This is all typical corporate and political spin, don't make outsourcing the issue, make it Lou Dobbs. What's his angle? Who is he protecting? What is his real agenda? Is it true John Kerry has Lou Dobbs office number programmed into his cell phone?

If only there was work for people who didn't have anything better to do with their time then to make up conspiracy theories on the truth.

By many people's standards, this is the resume of a person almost anyone would want working for their company. However, this person submits this resume my way with the added comment that it hasn't done him any good. Browse over this resume and tell me why a person with a background such as this should feel as if his resume does him no good? When someone with a backgournd like this is out of work for an extended period of time, you know you've got an ongoing unemployment crisis in the U.S.


SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Key contributor to IBM’s prime products. Regularly selected to work on some of the most important and challenging projects at IBM. Extensive knowledge of complicated internal DB2 data base code, including: SPUFI; IMS, TSO and DB2 call attach; message and command processing. Credited in appraisals as proactive, tenacious about solving difficult problems, good at juggling multiple assignments, and being appreciated by the team. References from top professionals at IBM. In the last year formed own company, so I understand challenges facing startups.

IBM AWARDS
Honored by management for innovation and outstanding leadership:

Led teams to write the first set of test cases for the z/OS Unix socket interface.

Led a team to develop a first-of-a-kind, object-oriented utility library for z/OS Unix.

Led teams to develop code for critical releases of RACF z/OS Unix.

Wrote innovative tools to stress-test RACF z/OS Unix.

Led teams to write new, innovative libraries for TSO and IMS. Libraries revolutionized the way that information was presented for TSO and IMS. (1983 GPD Achievement Award.)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Software Consultant 2003 - 2004
CEO of my own software consulting firm to help people on the Olympic Peninsula use their PCs. Designed and wrote a web site for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula. Received feedback from key Boys & Girls Clubs personnel and local business community for providing an outstanding site on short notice. Web site was credited with producing the best auction results ever for the Boys & Girls Clubs. Act as Program Chair for Olympic Steering Committee of the WSA (Washington Software Alliance).

International Business Machines Corporation 1979 - 1984, 1985 - 2001

IBM, Silicon Valley (Santa Teresa) Laboratory, San Jose, CA
Software Engineer / DB2 UDB Development 1998 - 2001
As part of the DB2 development team, designed, developed, and maintained code that is a core part of the DB2 product. Acted as the lead developer for the components I owned:

Wrote software specifications and code to enhance DB2 Versions 7 and 8. Code was recognized as high quality by the prime DB2 development lead.

Acted as focal point to help the customer support group of DB2 quickly resolve complicated and critical customer situations. Was considered one of the top two DB2 developers by customer support personnel.

Led newly-hired developers to write code in support of SQLJ and JDBC. Became sought after as a mentor.

Led a team of DB2 SQLJ developers to develop a first-of-a-kind library of Java test cases for SQLJ Release 1, cutting unit test time by several years.
Projects were consistently error-free and delivered ahead of or on schedule. Typically recognized by customers, peers, and management for outstanding work, being exceptionally responsive to customer problems, and being proactive about resolving difficult problems.

IBM, DSD, Poughkeepsie, NY
Software Engineer / z/OS Unix 1995 - 1998
Led teams to write test cases in support of z/OS Unix:

Led a team to design and write a first-of-a-kind object-oriented utility library in C++ to test z/OS Unix code. Personally designed and wrote a set of classes to simplify the testing of the socket interface for z/OS Unix. Used extensively in the z/OS Unix area and by other programming labs, the library saved several years of test time.

In addition to assigned responsibilities, conceived of, designed, and wrote one of the first department web sites. Mentored others to write additional web sites.

In addition to assigned responsibilities, designed and wrote Java test cases to test the porting of JDK 1.1 to z/OS Unix.

Led a team to test LE in an SRB-mode environment. Designed and wrote innovative test cases that uncovered problems not usually found in the lab.

IBM, DSD, Kingston, NY
Software Engineer / RACF Development 1991 - 1995
Led development teams to design and develop RACF code in support of z/OS Unix
Releases 2 and 3. Personally developed over half the code. The code was developed several weeks ahead of schedule and had exceptional quality as noted by management. Recognized by management as a highly productive, significant development resource for RACF.

IBM, Wappingers Falls, NY
Software Engineer / JES2 Development 1987 - 1991

IBM, Wappingers Falls, NY
Information Developer / TSO Information Development 1985 - 1987

Seattle-First National Bank, Seattle, WA
IMS Data Base Administrator 1984 - 1985

IBM, San Jose, CA
Information Developer / IMS Information Development 1979 - 1984

EDUCATION
Graduated cum laude from San Diego State University. BA: English, Minor: Information Systems. Worked 20 hours per week for NOSC (Naval Ocean Systems Center) for two years as a student programmer while carrying a full course load.

COMPUTER SKILLS
Languages: SQL, SQLJ, C, C++, Java, HTML, Assembler, PL/X, Pascal, Perl, and COBOL
Products: SQL, SQLJ/JDBC, ODBC, DB2 UDB, z/OS Unix (Unix for MVS), LE/CEL, RACF, ISPF, JES2, JCL, TSO, IMS, IPCS, and VICOM
Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows XP, z/OS, OS/390, MVS, OS/2.
Positions Held: Team lead, software developer, function tester, technical writer


If you want to contact this person, email your interest to me first and I'll put you in touch.

# posted by The Times @ 10:49 AM

As goes the economy, one would expect so goes the job market. However, the economy has been slowly gaining momentum for the last several months, but the job market remains relatively stagnant. Recently, the Federal Reserve (that organization followed religiously by all those stock market players who also play are significant role in pinning down job expansion) released some encouraging news about the economy with the stinger that it is still concerned about jobs.

While I'm not sure of the impact yet the economy has yet to unleash on the job market, there is a great deal of good news for all types of industries in the U.S. in the Fed's latest Beige Book. I would though draw your attention to what the Fed says about employee benefit costs and its effect on hiring.


Consumer Spending Most [Federal Reserve Banking] districts saw a noticeable increase in retail sales. Boston, Cleveland and Philadelphia described sales as improving and strengthening, while sales were moderately above year-ago levels in the Atlanta, Minneapolis and St. Louis districts. Dallas, Kansas City, New York and San Francisco variously described consumer spending as brisk, solid or surprisingly strong. Meanwhile, retail sales growth moderated somewhat in the Richmond district, and consumer spending was somewhat mixed in the Chicago district. Several districts noted increases in apparel sales. Furthermore, many reports indicated that retail contacts were optimistic for growth
during late spring and summer.

Vehicle Sales District reports indicated that vehicle sales were mixed. Minneapolis and San Francisco reported strong sales, and Cleveland, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Richmond described recent vehicle sales as rising or improved. However, some districts noted that sales were constant or down slightly from a year ago. In the Atlanta district auto sales were described as uneven, with strong demand for light trucks and SUVs contrasted with weakness in demand for cars. Chicago, Dallas and St. Louis suggested that automobile sales were soft or slow. A number of auto dealers indicated that inventories were higher than desired.

Tourism and Services Tourism activity grew in several districts. Atlanta, Minneapolis, New York, Richmond and San Francisco described tourism activity as brisk, solid or at high levels. In the northern part of the Boston district tourism picked up at a moderate pace after a slow start earlier in the year. Meanwhile, Kansas City said that travel and
tourism were mixed, and Chicago mentioned that leisure travel was generally flat. Boston, Kansas City, Minneapolis and Richmond indicated that tourism businesses were optimistic for the summer season.

Manufacturing Manufacturing activity increased in all the districts. New orders and production were up over a year ago. Several districts reported slow growth in capital equipment orders. Nearly all districts noted increased activity across a broad range of industry sectors, especially primary materials. Kansas City reported higher capacity utilization for most manufacturers. Most steel mills were operating at or near capacity in the Chicago and Cleveland districts. Philadelphia indicated that steel and iron supplies were limited. Orders for high-technology products increased in the Dallas and San Francisco districts. Rising material costs were a common theme across the nation, with mixed reports on the ability to pass costs along to consumers by raising prices.

Real Estate and Construction Residential markets were strong, with some concerns about the rising costs of building materials. Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New York and Richmond all suggested strong sales, but Richmond noted softening in the Carolinas offset by activity in other markets. Cleveland said sales were on par with the same period last year, and Dallas referred to scattered signs of improvement. Activity slowed in the St. Louis district. Several districts reported mid-priced homes accounted for most of the activity, with recent increased activity in the high-end market.

Agriculture Overall, agricultural conditions were good across the nation. Prices for most agricultural commodities remained strong. Chicago reported higher prices for corn, soybeans, hogs and beef, and Minneapolis noted record milk prices. Atlanta reported firm prices for vegetables, and San Francisco reported strong demand for nuts. Due to record prices, several districts indicated that farmers plan to plant more acres of soybeans this year. Atlanta, Kansas City and Minneapolis reported dry conditions in parts of their districts, and Richmond indicated that cold weather problems were hampering plantings.

Labor Markets Most districts indicated that hiring increased moderately. Chicago and San Francisco also noted that more firms plan to hire later in the year. In the Dallas district, jobs increased for production workers in high tech, apparel and lumber manufacturing. A New York employment agency, specializing in office jobs, reported that the labor market has continued to strengthen in March and early April, with improvement described as moderate but broad-based. Meanwhile, reports of hiring remained mixed in Atlanta, but declines in some of the weaker sectors abated. Hiring increased for temporary workers in several districts.

Wages and Prices District reports show that increases in wages and salaries were modest; however, significant increases in the cost of health benefits were noted. In the Boston district, wages for retail positions were mostly steady, although some retailers were implementing increases of 3 to 4 percent. Salaries were relatively flat in the New York district. Overall wage increases were modest in the Minneapolis district, while health benefits remained a key issue in contract disputes. Dallas and Kansas City reported that wage increases were modest, but several employers noted that high benefit costs continued to discourage them from hiring new employees. San Francisco reported that employers have responded to the rising cost of health benefits in part by shifting some of the burden to workers.

Hot headlines from the weekend:

Job fair for Maury prison draws more than 100 unemployed It's funny how our definition of a "good job" goes through all types of changes during the different stages of our unemployment. I don't know how many of the 100 people who lined up to apply to help in the construction of a new prison. I'm not knocking construction work, my father did it for many years and used to always point to the different infrastructure he helped build. I wonder how many of these people will point towards a building wrapped in razor wire for pride?

Job-hunting college students concerned by economy, unemployment statistics Another great case for graduate school as graduating seniors begin to come to grips with the reality of the meager job situation in the country. Of course, if these college students play it correctly, they should be looking to use their inexperience to an advantage and go for the lower hanging fruit with the lower paying wages. But, who graduated from college with that type of mindset?

Outsourced? Don't Fall Into Severance Trap (Registration required) This is written by someone who either recently lost their job or has watched many of his own friends lose their jobs. What the writer fails to get around to arguing is that companies that threaten to withhold severance or unemployment benefits from those required to train their foreign replacements should be heavily fined. Instead, the writer focuses on how the practice is so unethical. And ... when did businesses worry so much about ethics anymore?

Jobs go up for online bidding Here's a great way for many of those unemployed due to outsourcing can find some additional income ... online bidding for freelance work. However, you can't help but feel discouraged when you have someone admitting that the finished product they received from the winning bidding was really worth 10 times more than the $150 he paid for it.

Long road between jobs and home What makes this unemployment crisis in the U.S. different than the rest is that it is hitting more of those people who live out in the suburbs. What's overlooked is that the people who remained in the city either never found jobs again or have to travel far from their homes for a lower wage job. What's sad is all the attention on the missing white-collar jobs has us accepting that fact that inner city jobs are gone for good.

Tough news below for those in the HR field, according to The Conference Board, 80 percent of companies that outsource HR functions would do so again, and of those companies that have outsourced their HR services, none plan to take outsourced services back in-house.

Below is text from the press release sent today:

More than three-fourths of executives at large North American and European companies that currently outsource one or more major human resources functions said they would do so again, according to a survey released today by The Conference Board and sponsored by Accenture.

"HR Outsourcing: Benefits, Challenges and Trends" is The Conference Board’s second study to track the benefits of human resources (HR) outsourcing and changes in the HR marketplace. Based on the results of a survey of executives at more than 120 companies in North America and Europe with annual revenues of at least $1 billion, the new study found that outsourcing is now firmly embedded as part of HR service delivery.

Some 76 percent of respondents surveyed said their organizations currently outsource one or more major HR functions, and 80 percent of those said they would do so again. In addition, nearly three-fourths (71 percent) of the surveyed companies that currently outsource HR said that they will extend or renegotiate contracts with their current outsourcing providers and 29 percent said that they will put their existing outsourced services out for a new bid – but none said they plan to take services back in-house.

In addition, 91 percent of respondents reported either having achieved or partially achieved their HR outsourcing objectives. Only 9 percent of respondents said they are entirely against outsourcing some or all of their major human resources functions, compared with 23 percent in the previous year’s survey.

The survey revealed notable regional differences regarding the acceptance of HR outsourcing, with U.S. companies being the most accepting. For instance, 87 percent of executives at U.S. companies surveyed said they currently outsource major HR functions, compared with 71 percent in Canada and 57 percent in Europe. However, European firms lead in outsourcing non-HR functions, with 70 percent of European respondents indicating that they outsource a significant business process other than HR, compared with 65 percent in Canada and 52 percent in the United States.

"European companies are more likely to be confronted with challenges in standardizing HR processes across national borders due to differing in-country legislative requirements," said David Dell, author of the study and former Research Director of Capabilities Management and HR Strategies at The Conference Board. "And there are still a relatively scarce number of vendors who can offer multinational capabilities. North American companies do not face this legislative challenge, and are more likely to be driven to HR outsourcing by a need to streamline costs, improve service quality, and reap the benefits of new technologies without major capital investments."

"Many companies today view HR outsourcing as one of the most viable options to save money and improve services while also making a strategic contribution to the business," said David Clinton, president of Accenture HR Services, an Accenture business that provides human resources services on an outsourced basis. "The most compelling indicator of outsourcing’s high approval rating is the fact that none of the survey respondents plans to bring that activity back in-house."

HR programs that are most often fully outsourced are: 401(k) programs (selected by 53 percent of respondents); pensions/benefits (30 percent); stock options administration (30 percent); and health benefits (29 percent). Leading the list of partially outsourced services are health benefits (50 percent), training and development (48 percent) and payroll (40 percent). The study also found that while most companies fully outsource some HR programs, they often deliver their HR services via a blended solution, using both internal and external capabilities with multiple providers.

Among the study’s other findings:

More than three-fourths (77 percent) of companies do not plan to consolidate their HR services under one outsourcing provider in the near term, although nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of respondent companies have already done or are planning to do so within the next three years.

The three most common metrics that companies use to monitor the success of their outsourcing relationships are hard-dollar cost savings measurements, service-level-improvement metrics and employee-satisfaction surveys, used by 77 percent, 59 percent and 56 percent of respondents, respectively.

Nearly two-thirds (60 percent) of respondents indicated that they have either created, or are in the process of creating, a core competency for managing outsourcing providers within human resources.

"The initial growing pains of early HR outsourcing are clearly giving way to a more maturing industry," said Clinton. "As companies apply lessons learned from early experiences, they are finding better ways of managing their outsourcing relationships, and measuring their success with greatly improved governance and metrics. As companies continue to come under pressure to do more with less, HR outsourcing is rapidly becoming the best way to reduce costs, improve service to employees, and maximize resource availability across their organization. The question today is less about whether or not to outsource than how to get better at it."

About the Survey:

This study is based on the results of a September 2003 survey of 122 companies with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. Three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents were from North America, with the remainder from Europe. Two-thirds (66 percent) of the 66 percent of respondents who indicated that they work in human resources are vice presidents or above, and 24 percent are directors.

# posted by The Times @ 12:16 PM

Today's the IRS deadline for filing your federal taxes and mine hit the mailbox earlier this morning. It was quite a different experience than a year ago when Tax Day was probably the absolute lowest point emotionally of my nine-month stint on unemployment.

With my benefits nearly exhausted and few opportunities presenting themselves to me, I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of my completed tax forms from the CPA crunching the numbers on my family's earnings. When I went to his suburban Chicago office to pick up the forms, the receptionist handed me the sealed envelopes and instructed me to send them off by mail and they looked forward to seeing me next year. What she didn't tell me was the amount of money I could expect back on my federal and state taxes, the amount that was going to hold me over for another month if necessary.

Since the envelopes were sealed, she had no way of knowing the amount of my returns and she slowly scampered back to the CPA's office to find out the total.

She may as well have kept on walking.

The combined amount of both state and federal returns were just $5. I came away from that visit down more than $160 for the CPA's services.

It was just devastating. There was no relief in sight in any direction. As sad as it was that I would find myself relying on a tax return to help my family, knowing the amount didn't even cover a week's worth of school lunches for even one of my children was so painfully disheartening.

What so many people either forget or never understand is it is a moment like my Tax Day experience that makes unemployment so agonizing for people out of work and for their families. For me, it was Tax Day, for others its having to pull their children from an activity the kids enjoy because the parents no longer have the money, it could be sending out Christmas cards instead of giving gifts at Christmas, it could be something so ordinary in our lives that suddenly becomes incredibly magnified against the strain of unemployment.

For others, it is far worse. Families having to sell their homes or even go homeless. People in need of a doctor's care going without due to a lack on insurance. In many cities, the unemployed are the same people who end up in jail for theft or other crimes.

I never went homeless, my wife had a job so I always had health care and I never contemplated committing a crime. However, I realized just how fast the money can all go away, how much you're willing to personally sacrifice for the good of your family, and I attained an understanding of the frustration and anger that can lead some good people to do wrong.

No one enjoys paying taxes, but trust me, many of the long-term unemployed wouldn't mind paying if the trade off meant just having a job.

Hot headlines from the weekend: (Sorry for the delay in posts, my children did something drastically improper to my computer. At least they weren't downloading porn!)

Situation Wanted for Unemployed Professional Desperate times call for desperate measures as white-collar professionals are beginning to run "Jobs Wanted" ads in daily newspapers. Normally, this is the portion of the Careers sections of your paper where domestic help is solicited. However, people with little to nothing to lose have begun throwing their career chances to these classified sections in hope of snagging some attention.

Based on the IP addresses that show up within my traffic logs, I know I've got Fortune 500 types reading this blog on a regular basis. If you want to send me your information/resume to post online in hopes of finding a lead, I'll be willing to try and add a new feature to the blog.

Ironically, most people responding to these "Jobs Wanted" ads are actually looking for work themselves.

Reinventing the worker As pointed out by one of my regular emailers, (hey, Mike M.) there isn't much point in retraining workers into technical fields that may just as easily end up overseas within a couple of months, weeks or days. For those people who can afford and manage to train for a completely different career than the one they've invested their lives towards, be cautious, do your homework, and make sure that job has little chance of going overseas. I wonder how many people changed their lives to become computer programmers only to wind up unemployed ... again?

Offshoring may have long-term costs Easy to ignore in comparison to the numbers of people losing their jobs to outsourcing is the amount of lost tax revenue that exists due to the favorite corporate practice of the new century. Lawmakers already pushed to the edge for ideas when it comes to keeping their own state solvent are beginning to realize that fewer jobs in the U.S. means there is less tax money to grow on. How much? Try a potential sum of $34 billion that can be taken away from Social Security, Medicare, worker's compensation and other state and local programs.

Workers' compensation reform critical for jobs Let's make a distinction here. As outsourcing takes away jobs, the rising costs of doing business are doing quite a bit to prevent job growth. While the unemployment crisis has been discouraging, many businesses are legitimately struggling with cost controls. While I'm not for taking anything away from a workers' comp program, the federal government can do much more to control the costs associated with health care and insurance.

Unemployed man is lottery winner While I would not endorse spending what little income an unemployed person has on something as frivolous as a lottery, hats off to Kevin Harder, 57, who had been unemployed for the last three years before winning $34 million. While this doesn't help you in your job search, sometimes you've just got to feel good for someone else in a situation such as your own.

Maybe your lottery ticket will come next week in the form of a new job, but, just like Kevin, you will just have to keep playing the game every week and eventually you will win too.

The recent announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the economy spurred the growth of 308,000 new jobs has some people questioning the quality of those jobs. From one standpoint, you could say we should embrace the positive news and not try to pick it apart. Momentum may be swinging back in favor of the unemployed as the CEO survey cited below in an earlier entry today.

However, improved employment figures don't always show the entire picture of the unemployment issue. Based on March's numbers, why not browse through the industries accounting for a majority of the growth found within those magical 308,000 jobs.

The big winner in March was the construction industry that saw employment increase by 71,000. Granted, this industry is largely affected by supply and material costs, the weather, and other industry specific issues, but when times are good, construction can pay quite nicely.

Jobs in the health care industry jumped up by 36,000 in March with increases in hospitals (12,000), offices of physicians (9,000) and assisted living facilities (7,000). Office work and residential care facilities don't normally chalk up large salaries, but it's work for people with multiple and unique skill sets.

Among white collars, financial, credit intermediation and related activities accounted for 11,000 new jobs in March. Much of this can be traced back to the construction industry as new homes continue to find eager buyers keeping mortgage companies and related businesses humming along. Business services tacked on another 42,000 jobs in March with other jumps in employment for architectural and engineering services, computer systems design, and management consulting.

Typically, the industries cited above pay better than the average American wage and, pay attention, the numbers of jobs created in those industries make up more than 50 percent of all jobs created in March in the U.S.

For jobs that normally run below the average American wage, the retail service industry added 47,000 jobs in March as grocery stores stocked up on 13,000 additional employees. Things get a little tricky when talking about new jobs in grocery when most of that comes from people who were on strike and are now returning to their jobs.

Does that really make them new?

The temp industry witnessed little change after becoming the lifeblood of many American workers. I can't help but see this as a positive. No one enjoys working with a temporary cloud hanging over their heads. The Pina Colada crowd, technically known as the "leisure and hospitality sector," enjoyed growth to the tune of 27,000 jobs. Whether they be starving artists or actors, service industry jobs help pay the bills, but little else.

The hot political potato known as manufacturing saw no change in March ... and that's good news. Normally, the industry sheds jobs like Anna Nicole Smith does pounds on Trim Spa. I have no figures on job growth in the b-list celebrity spokesperson industry.

Increases continue in the transportation and warehousing industries although the rising fuel costs may soon dampen those figures. Among the industries bulking up, government, that earns a chuckle from me seeing all this growth in government during a Republican administration. Red tape be damned!

Again, job growth becomes a positive and if a majority of that growth clings to higher paying jobs, who am I to try and spin it any other way than to keep hoping the momentum surges on?

Following up on the good news over the 308,000 new jobs in March comes this press release from The Conference Board showing the economic confidence level of CEOs in the U.S. to be at its highest point in 20 years and also shows CEOs are downright bullish on the hiring front.


CHIEF EXECUTIVES’ CONFIDENCE SURGES, THE CONFERENCE BOARD REPORTS
Index at Highest Level in 20 Years

Chief executives’ confidence in the nation’s economy, which had slipped to 66 in the final quarter of 2003, surged to 73 in the first quarter of 2004, The Conference Board reports. This is the highest reading in 20 years, when the measure reached 74 in the final quarter of 1983. A reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses.

The Conference Board’s quarterly measure of CEO Confidence covers more than 100 CEOs in a wide variety of industries.

"CEO confidence has surged to its highest level in 20 years," Says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. "Half of all CEOs surveyed anticipate an increase in hiring plans over the course of the year, suggesting labor market growth should gain momentum in the months ahead."

CEOs’ overall assessment of current conditions improved dramatically in the first quarter of 2004, with the measure of current economic conditions increasing to 78 from 68. More than 90 percent of CEOs claim current economic conditions have improved, up from more than 88 percent last quarter. In assessing their own industries, the increase was also dramatic – the measure increased to 71 from 60. Close to 78 percent say conditions have improved, up from 63 percent in the prior survey.

In looking ahead to the next six months, CEOs’ expectations were substantially more optimistic than last quarter. Business leaders’ outlook for the economy improved to 72 from 66. Their expectations for their own industries also posted a healthy gain with the measure rising to 70 from 63.

EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK TURNS BULLISH

Half of all CEOs anticipate an increase in employment levels in their industry, up significantly from less than 16 percent a year ago. The proportion of CEOs anticipating a decrease fell dramatically to less than 12 percent from about 47 percent in the first quarter of 2003.

Health care costs remain the major obstacle to hiring new workers. Regulation and litigation costs were of less concern, while fringe benefits and wage and salary costs remain of minimal concern to CEOs when hiring new workers.

Comments this morning from Kathleen Utgoff, Commissioner of the Bereau of Labor Statistics:

"Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 308,000 in March. This follows revised gains of 159,000 in January and 46,000 in February. Since August 2003, payroll employment has risen by 759,000. The unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in March, little changed over the month.

"Job growth was fairly widespread in March, with gains in both the goods-producing and service-providing sectors of the economy. Among the goods-producing industries, construction employment increased by 71,000 over the month. This unusually large gain followed a decline of 21,000 in February. Employment in construction has been trending upward over the past year; 201,000 jobs have been added over the period.

"Manufacturing employment was unchanged in March at 14.3 million. Factory employment had been declining for some time, although the rate of job loss began to moderate late last summer. This abatement in job losses has been concentrated among durable goods manufacturers. The manufacturing workweek was down in March to 40.9 hours. Since July 2003, however, the factory workweek is up by eight-tenths of an hour.

"Several of the major service-providing industries added jobs in March. Retail trade employment increased by 47,000. Part of this gain reflects the return to payrolls of some workers who had been on strike in food stores. Elsewhere in retail trade, employment rose over the month among motor vehicle and parts dealers and continued to trend upward in building material and garden supply stores.

"In health care and social assistance, employment increased by 36,000 in March, almost entirely in health care industries. There were noteworthy job gains in hospitals, offices of physicians, and nursing and residential care facilities.

"Employment in professional and business services expanded over the month. Job gains occurred in a number of component industries, including architectural and engineering services, computer systems design, and management consulting. Elsewhere in this sector, employment in the temporary help industry was basically unchanged over the month, after an increase in February. From a longer-term perspective, the number of temporary help jobs has increased by 212,000 since April 2003.

"The food services industry added 27,000 jobs over the month. Over the past year, employment in food services has expanded by 186,000. The number of jobs in transportation and warehousing edged up in March. In financial activities, employment increased by 11,000 in credit intermediation, reflecting the recent rise in mortgage refinancing activity. The job total in the information industry was essentially unchanged in March; employment in the industry appears to have leveled off recently following roughly 2 1/2 years of decline.

"Moving on to the data from our household survey, the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.7 percent in March. The jobless rate has held fairly steady for several months and remains below its recent peak of 6.3 percent in June 2003.

"The labor force participation rate was unchanged in March at 65.9 percent. Total employment (as measured in the household survey) was essentially flat over the month, and the employment-population ratio was little changed at 62.1 percent. The number of discouraged workers--persons outside the labor force who have stopped looking for work because they believe their job search efforts would be fruitless-- was 514,000 in March, not much different from a year earlier.

"In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 308,000 in March and is up by 759,000 since last August. The unemployment rate was little changed over the month, at 5.7 percent."