Job Hiring Rate

Each day the Research staff takes a look at recently released economic indicators, addressing what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update highlights the job hiring rate.

• The Labor Department reported today that the job hiring rate inched up to 3.2 percent of all employees in November from 3.1 percent the prior month and 3.0 percent one year before. That is, for every 100 employees, essentially 3 were new hires in November.
• On the other hand, the separation rate kept up at 3.0 percent. That is, for every 100 employee of last month, essentially 3 were let go or quit voluntarily.
• The small decimal points between hiring and separation rates indicate the degree of net job creation in the country.
• The construction industry has high hire and separation rates,with hires in November at 5.6 percent and separation at 5.8 percent. The industry encompassing arts, entertainment, and recreation is very volatile with near 8 percent hire and separation rates. Government jobs are the most stable and the latest data show a 1.3 percent hire rate and 1.4 percent separation rate.
• In another Labor Department report, wages are rising strongly in Santa Clara County, otherwise known as the Silicon Valley, with an 8 percent jump over the past year. Miami-Dade County had a decent gain of 3 percent. Passaic County in northern New Jersey barely scratched out a gain of 1 percent. The data has a long lag time, so the latest data is as of second quarter 2011. You may find the wage trends in your county in this list of 300 largest counties in the U.S. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cewqtr.t01.htm