As 2009 came to a close, employers cut 4.2 million jobs, the unemployment rate averaged 9.3 percent, and nearly 15.3 million people were unemployed, leaving numerous business professionals across many different industries looking for work. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 10 percent in December, even though employers shed 85,000 jobs that month. To put it in perspective, at the very start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed was at 7.7 million with an unemployment rate of just 5.0 percent. Needless to say, even though some would predict that the economy is bound to improve in 2010, the nation has a long way to go with consumers remaining hopeful that 2010 will be the year of positive change especially with President Obama’s new Bill to create new jobs.
Few companies that were indeed hiring in fourth quarter 2009 received an overwhelming amount of interest in their positions, making it difficult to sift through thousands of applicants and making the competition for jobs fierce amongst applicants. Desperate times call for desperate measures. For those that are or would be considered unemployed, it seems as though most are willing to take on any job they can get to stay in the workforce. In December, four in ten unemployed workers were jobless for 27 weeks or longer according to the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is important that professionals out of work for a long period of time realize flexibility is important. Not only is it important to keep your options open, but to consider part-time employment or going back to school to increase knowledge or change careers towards a more recession proof profession, such as healthcare. It’s also a good way to keep your skills and resume fresh. On the flip side, during tough economic times, employers often look to increase temporary or part-time resources to handle work without long-term commitments. It’s no surprise that according to our fourth quarter 2009 data, employers posting part-time positions increased by 5% over the previous quarter, compared to employers who posted full-time positions which increased by only 2%.
The good new is (yes, there is some good news) certain segments of the job market did show areas of growth. Over 73% of industries had some percentage gain in online jobs over the previous quarter. In addition, over 54% of new employer registrations had 50 or less employees, proving that small businesses can remain strong even in a down economy and provide numerous job opportunities for business professionals. According to President Obama, over the past fifteen years, small businesses have created roughly 65 percent of all new jobs in America. With his plan to increase new jobs and provide tax breaks, largely for small businesses, we are hopeful that we will have even more good news to share next quarter.
