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Mixed signals: Hiring rate declines in July; recruiting difficulty rises

Manufacturers and service-sector companies will add jobs at a lower rate in July compared with a year ago, yet HR professionals are still struggling to recruit workers for key positions, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for July 2011.

The manufacturing hiring index will drop in July on a year-over-year basis by a net of 4.5 points (a net of 34.7 percent of companies will hire in July, compared with a net of 39.2 percent that added jobs a year ago). Service-sector hiring will decrease in July by a net of 13.6 points (a net of 41.5 percent will add jobs, compared with a net of 55.1 percent that added jobs a year ago).

The results for July 2011 reveal what may be a temporary setback for the labor market's recovery, and they are in accord with recent federal data. The manufacturing sector lost 5,000 jobs in May after posting strong gains earlier in the year, according to the BLS, and private-sector employment changed very little in many job categories for the month of May overall.

The full report, which also includes data for recruiting difficulty, new-hire compensation, and vacancies, can be found here.