Some Good News

If you are unemployed and frustrated, I want to give you what I see as good news. But first, let me stet the stage.

The unemployment rate continues to improve. The latest news from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is that the U.S. added 321,000 jobs in November and year-to-date through November 1.7 million more people are working. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8%. That’s good news, right? Good for the economy, yes, but to a job seeker, maybe that’s bad news – you know – supply and demand. If unemployment is down that means there are fewer jobs open, right? Well, yes, and no.

Here is what I think is even better news. Employment in professional and business services is up over 600,000 YTD. Financial services industries are up over 100,000 YTD. So, people are getting good, professional jobs. It may not have been you yet, but there is hope – lots of hope.

BLS had another press release in December that described the Job Openings and Turnover. This one looked back to October 2014 and said that there were 4.8 million job openings as of October 31^st. The largest industry segment was professional and business services with over 900,000 openings and almost 1.2 million people hired. All of those numbers have likely climbed since then so there is a lot of hiring going on.

In October, 2.7 million people quit their jobs. While I don’t have the proof, my supposition is that the vast majority of those quit their job had already found a better one. In professional and business services, almost 600,000 quit their jobs in October.

For the job seeker, I see this as very encouraging news for 2015. Jobs are being created, but there is also a lot of churn in the market. People are getting new jobs, which means that their old jobs are being filled. This movement in the market creates opportunity, and opportunity combined with preparation and execution means getting a new job.

Things will be quiet for another week, then it will be “Katy bar the door!” Get ready, make a plan, be prepared to network like crazy, and 2015 will be your year. Have a very Happy New Year!

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