International News, US News

Self-employment on the decline in the U.S.

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Self Employment

While the U.S. has always been a nation of entrepreneurs, the number of Americans choosing to work for themselves has been steadily declining in recent history.

According to a study from the Pew Research Center, self-employed professionals and the staff they hired were responsible for 44 million jobs – 30 percent of the U.S. workforce – in 2014. Of this demographic, 14.6 million, or 10 percent, of people were truly self-employed, while 29.4 million people worked for self-employed professionals.

These figures were notably different from data collected 20 years earlier. The report revealed that in 1994, 12.2 percent of Americans were worked for themselves. Additionally, fewer entrepreneurs had incorporated businesses in the early 1990s than they do today. In 1990, 2.9 percent of companies were incorporated, while this number hit 3.7 percent in 2014. The number of people working for unincorporated organizations fell from 8.5 percent to 6.3 percent.

MarketWatch noted that while the U.S. used to be a global leader in entrepreneurship, the nation has since fallen behind in this area. The source pointed out that the U.S. has fallen to the No.12 spot in terms of how many residents are self-employed. New Zealand, Sweden, Israel, Italy, Denmark, Hungary and Finland all currently boast higher rates of entrepreneurs.

US News

Study reveals which U.S. cities attract tech workers

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San Francisco

While cities all across the U.S. are expanding their tech sectors, only a few are drawing large amounts of qualified tech workers.

A new study from job database site Indeed revealed that tech professionals were 3.6 times more likely to search for available positions in San Francisco, San Jose, Austin and Seattle than anywhere else in the nation. Time magazine noted that this recent data indicates a growing trend, as in 2013 job seekers were only 3.3 times more likely to explore opportunities in these four cities. This means that as tech employment grows increasingly competitive in these desirable areas, other cities are experiencing skills gaps and worker shortages.

Fortune magazine pointed out that, due to the popularity of these regions, other hubs are finding it difficult to bridge the divide between empty tech positions and eligible applicants. Cities like New York and Atlanta, which ranked highly in terms of available tech jobs, were significantly less appealing to tech professionals and therefore received far fewer searches and applications. Notably, many cities who ranked within the top 10 most desirable spots for tech workers did not score highly in terms of open positions. For example, Salt Lake City was the No. 5 most-searched area for tech professionals, but was ranked 14th when it came to hiring.

Uncategorized

Slower Growth For US Manufacturing

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US manufacturing has slowed down slightly in the last few months.  The recent ISM Manufacturing index highlighted that US Manufacturers are experiencing a slowdown in overseas markets as a result of the stronger US dollar and bloated inventories.  Their data showed that US manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level in more than two years in September as a result of the slowdown in the Chinese economy and broader worries about the overall global economy.  At the same time, many US communities are reporting historically low unemployment.  Manufacturing accounts for about 9% of US employment.  The numbers show that health care, leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services remained strong, and local governments created 24,000 new jobs.

Bruce Peacock
Vice President of Business Development
The Richmond Group USA

Banking, Financial Services, Lending Services, Monthly BLS Report, US News

Who Are You Counting on for a Strong 2016?

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As we move into the last quarter of 2015, many people have begun to set their sights on ramping up for 2016. When planning, there is often a focus solely on one critical question: what is the plan? However, many often neglect another aspect that, arguably, is just as critical: who do you have in place to execute on that plan? In other words, your roadmap to success not only depends on your plan, but also the vehicle you use to get there.

The beginning of the fourth quarter is the perfect time to begin thinking about what skills you need to add to round out your team. What are your team’s strong points and what are some areas that could use bolstering? Having the right team coming into the new year takes extra strategy and planning, but the results can be significant.

We wish you a successful start to Q4, and we look forward to being a part of your 2016 planning!

Construction, US News

Construction industry continues national growth

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Construction JobsAccording to information released from the Associated General Contractors of America, construction jobs were created in 37 states plus the District of Columbia between July 2014 and July 2015. Between June and July of this year, 28 states and Washington, D.C. recorded gains in this sector.

California experienced the most notable boom to its construction field, adding nearly 49,000 jobs over the past year – an expansion rate of 7.3 percent. Florida created 26,500 jobs for a growth of 6.6 percent, while Washington state’s construction sector contributed 15,300 new jobs to its economy, a growth of 9.6 percent. Texas and Michigan’s industries also flourished since last summer, adding 14,400 and 12,400 jobs, respectively.

Arkansas, Idaho and Nevada all experienced rapid growth rates within the year. All three states expanded their construction sectors by between 10 and 15 percent. These three states contributed a combined 18,500 construction positions to the national job market.

Despite the significant gains seen in these areas, the industry struggled to stay afloat in certain U.S. regions, as 13 states lost construction jobs during the past year. The most notable drop was seen in West Virginia, where the construction field contracted by 5,400 jobs, representing a decline of 16 percent. Rhode Island’s sector shrank by nearly 8 percent as 1,300 jobs were lost, while Ohio lost 13,800 jobs, or 7 percent of its construction workforce. Mississippi and Indiana were also among the regions that sustained significant losses.

“The uneven growth reflects the cross-cutting trends in the overall economy, as tight government budgets, plunging commodity prices and weak overseas demand lead to project cancelations in some states even while activity accelerates elsewhere,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist of the AGCA.

Education, Healthcare Services, Midwest US

Michigan’s employment situation improves

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Detroit, Michigan

The labor situation in Michigan has been steadily improving, as evidenced by the state’s falling unemployment rate. According to The Associated Press, the state’s August jobless average hit 5.1 percent, the lowest rate Michigan has experienced in 14 years. The number of new jobs rose by 8,000 as the net number of people actively seeking work fell by 7,000.

The Detroit Free Press reported that the sector that experienced the most gains was the trade, transportation and utilities field, which added 5,000 new jobs. Financial activities, government and other services each added about 2,000 positions. The largest amount of losses were sustained in the construction industry, which saw its workforce shrink by 5,000 jobs between July and August.

The source noted that over the past year the fastest-growing Michigan industries have generally been professional and business services and education and health services. Within the past 12 months these fields have created 26,000 and 17,000 jobs, respectively. Manufacturing continues to be a prominent industry for Michigan, but it has now been eclipsed by these growing sectors as the state’s largest employer. The Detroit Free Press noted that this represents a regional shift toward “knowledge jobs of the future” and away from traditionally blue collar industries.