Tanja Hayward, of the Worcester staffing firm Partnership Employment Inc., said that since June her firm has increased its placement of temporary workers. (T&G Staff/CHRISTINE PETERSON)
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Before yesterday’s announcement of a drop in the state’s unemployment rate and fewer lost jobs in October, an official with a large professional staffing firm had an inkling things were improving.
Massachusetts tends to slightly outperform the national average, and earlier this month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase nationwide of 33,700 temporary workers employed in October, said Ryan M. Sutton, vice president for the New England district of Robert Half International.
“We’re optimistic we’re going to see similar if not improved trends locally as opposed to nationally,” Mr. Sutton said Tuesday of the state’s job situation.
He was right; the state reported yesterday the unemployment rate dropped to 8.9 percent in October from 9.3 percent in September, the first monthly rate decline since June 2007.
The labor force grew by 1,500 in October with 12,800 more Massachusetts residents employed and 11,300 fewer residents unemployed.
Hans G. Despain, an economics professor at Nichols College in Dudley, said the labor market will begin to stabilize right about where it is now.
“I don’t think (unemployment is) going to get much higher than 10 percent, but I said a year ago it wouldn’t hit 10 percent, so we’ll take that with a grain of salt,” he said.
But the state doesn’t have a solid, stable economy, Mr. Despain said, and he wasn’t completely on board with everything President Obama’s administration has done toward recovery.
“Certainly what he’s done is not a stimulant,” the professor said. “It’s really the economy itself that I think is stabilizing.”
In October, 3.1 million Massachusetts residents were employed and 307,900 residents were unemployed. At 3.4 million, the labor force increased by 16,500 from October 2008.
Professional, scientific and business services added 4,100 jobs in October with gains in all three areas. Professional, scientific and business services is the state’s third-largest employment sector.
Administrative, support and waste management services, including temporary help, which is part of the sector, grew by 2,200 jobs, the state said. It was the sixth consecutive monthly increase.
The commonly held thought is a rise in temporary jobs means permanent hiring is around the corner because employers are cautious before they decide to bring on permanent help, Robert Half International and other local staffing leaders said.
Education and health services, the state’s largest employment sector, added 1,500 jobs in October because of gains in health care and social assistance, the state said. Educational services jobs were unchanged.
Losing jobs last month were manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities, which is the second-largest employment sector; information; and financial activities.
The national unemployment rate in October was 10.2 percent compared to 9.8 percent in September.
Deena Perro, branch manager of Westboro employment firm Manpower Inc., which has nearly tripled its number of temporary workers since June, said the jobs report made sense to her because of the state’s growing sciences, health care and biomedicine areas.
She said her office, which covers Central Massachusetts, has noticed an increase in business services, an industry in which employers are starting to re-evaluate where efficiencies exist and make improvements.
Though not an economic forecaster, Ms. Perro said 2010 will see ups and downs with instability as the market starts to recover.
Tanja Hayward, managing partner of Worcester staffing firm Partnership Employment Inc., said that since June her firm has increased its placement of temporary workers, though mostly entry-level positions. Temporary jobs across the board are paying $2 to $3 less per hour than what they had been, she added.
Higher-level, $85,000-a-year executive jobs, which employers are taking their time filling because of the abundance of strong candidates, are paying $10,000 to $15,000 less. And employers are combining two jobs into one, she said.
“For instance they’ll take an IT person and want to combine it with the client interactive side, which are usually two different animals,” Ms. Hayward said.
It’s an ideal time for candidates to increase their skills because competition will become more fierce as people come off extended unemployment, Ms. Hayward said.
Partnership Employment, which has six employees, is looking for help and intends to take advantage of the increased supply of workers, Ms. Hayward said.
The firm plans to hire two permanent employees, one each in IT and accounting for Jan. 1.
“It’s a great time to snatch up talent, really,” Ms. Hayward said.
The report of the administrative, support and waste management services sector experiencing a sixth straight month of increased jobs wasn’t a surprise to John L. Schwalbe, director of Landfills for Casella Waste Systems.
“Our industry, whether you measure it in terms of recyclables collected or waste collected, there was a downward trend with the economy,” he said. “As the economy goes down people’s consumption goes down. Recyclables and waste will go down.
“That flattened up and picked up in the summer when it should and we haven’t seen it decline as rapidly as it usually does in the fall going into winter,” Mr. Schwalbe said.
The waste management firm has hired people at its Massachusetts’ sites this year and hadn’t made any layoffs or cutbacks, he said.
“It’s going to be a hiring trend definitely going into next spring and summer,” he said.
Contact Brian Lee by e-mail at blee@telegram.com.
Massachusetts tends to slightly outperform the national average, and earlier this month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase nationwide of 33,700 temporary workers employed in October, said Ryan M. Sutton, vice president for the New England district of Robert Half International.
“We’re optimistic we’re going to see similar if not improved trends locally as opposed to nationally,” Mr. Sutton said Tuesday of the state’s job situation.
He was right; the state reported yesterday the unemployment rate dropped to 8.9 percent in October from 9.3 percent in September, the first monthly rate decline since June 2007.
The labor force grew by 1,500 in October with 12,800 more Massachusetts residents employed and 11,300 fewer residents unemployed.
Hans G. Despain, an economics professor at Nichols College in Dudley, said the labor market will begin to stabilize right about where it is now.
“I don’t think (unemployment is) going to get much higher than 10 percent, but I said a year ago it wouldn’t hit 10 percent, so we’ll take that with a grain of salt,” he said.
But the state doesn’t have a solid, stable economy, Mr. Despain said, and he wasn’t completely on board with everything President Obama’s administration has done toward recovery.
“Certainly what he’s done is not a stimulant,” the professor said. “It’s really the economy itself that I think is stabilizing.”
In October, 3.1 million Massachusetts residents were employed and 307,900 residents were unemployed. At 3.4 million, the labor force increased by 16,500 from October 2008.
Professional, scientific and business services added 4,100 jobs in October with gains in all three areas. Professional, scientific and business services is the state’s third-largest employment sector.
Administrative, support and waste management services, including temporary help, which is part of the sector, grew by 2,200 jobs, the state said. It was the sixth consecutive monthly increase.
The commonly held thought is a rise in temporary jobs means permanent hiring is around the corner because employers are cautious before they decide to bring on permanent help, Robert Half International and other local staffing leaders said.
Education and health services, the state’s largest employment sector, added 1,500 jobs in October because of gains in health care and social assistance, the state said. Educational services jobs were unchanged.
Losing jobs last month were manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities, which is the second-largest employment sector; information; and financial activities.
The national unemployment rate in October was 10.2 percent compared to 9.8 percent in September.
Deena Perro, branch manager of Westboro employment firm Manpower Inc., which has nearly tripled its number of temporary workers since June, said the jobs report made sense to her because of the state’s growing sciences, health care and biomedicine areas.
She said her office, which covers Central Massachusetts, has noticed an increase in business services, an industry in which employers are starting to re-evaluate where efficiencies exist and make improvements.
Though not an economic forecaster, Ms. Perro said 2010 will see ups and downs with instability as the market starts to recover.
Tanja Hayward, managing partner of Worcester staffing firm Partnership Employment Inc., said that since June her firm has increased its placement of temporary workers, though mostly entry-level positions. Temporary jobs across the board are paying $2 to $3 less per hour than what they had been, she added.
Higher-level, $85,000-a-year executive jobs, which employers are taking their time filling because of the abundance of strong candidates, are paying $10,000 to $15,000 less. And employers are combining two jobs into one, she said.
“For instance they’ll take an IT person and want to combine it with the client interactive side, which are usually two different animals,” Ms. Hayward said.
It’s an ideal time for candidates to increase their skills because competition will become more fierce as people come off extended unemployment, Ms. Hayward said.
Partnership Employment, which has six employees, is looking for help and intends to take advantage of the increased supply of workers, Ms. Hayward said.
The firm plans to hire two permanent employees, one each in IT and accounting for Jan. 1.
“It’s a great time to snatch up talent, really,” Ms. Hayward said.
The report of the administrative, support and waste management services sector experiencing a sixth straight month of increased jobs wasn’t a surprise to John L. Schwalbe, director of Landfills for Casella Waste Systems.
“Our industry, whether you measure it in terms of recyclables collected or waste collected, there was a downward trend with the economy,” he said. “As the economy goes down people’s consumption goes down. Recyclables and waste will go down.
“That flattened up and picked up in the summer when it should and we haven’t seen it decline as rapidly as it usually does in the fall going into winter,” Mr. Schwalbe said.
The waste management firm has hired people at its Massachusetts’ sites this year and hadn’t made any layoffs or cutbacks, he said.
“It’s going to be a hiring trend definitely going into next spring and summer,” he said.
Contact Brian Lee by e-mail at blee@telegram.com.