By John Focht
Full-steam ahead into the 2013 fourth quarter and the job market looks as stifling as it did a year ago, according to a recent report from Kiplinger magazine, a Timely and Trusted Personal Finance Advice and Business Forecasts. The subpar growth in job creation will continue through year end, according to the September 9 Kiplinger magazine report.
Despite the Kiplinger forecast though, the national unemployment rate fell from 7.4% in July to 7.3% in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic. In Pennsylvania, the state unemployment rate fell from 7.8% in July to 7.7% in August, according to the Bureau.
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As Kiplinger forecasts year-end potential doom on the job market, local job recruiters are seeing positive trends in new job development in the region. Franco Lamesta, a senior recruiter at Liberty Personnel in King of Prussia, PA, reports that recently his clients are seeking candidates for new position growth.
A closer look at the Philadelphia region shows the unemployment rate for Chester County at 6.5%, Montgomery County at 6.7% and Bucks County at 7.1% all below the state and national levels for June 2013, according to the BLS website. Delaware County was above both the state and national levels for June at 8.1% unemployment, according to BLS website. Philadelphia County topped the region at 10.4% unemployment in June 2013, according to the Bureau.
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Lamesta, who is a recruiter in the manufacturing industry for food and beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and packaging at Liberty Personnel, said recently over email, that job orders from clients have increased significantly over the past year.
Prospective employers are looking for “top qualifications such as degrees and certain number of years’ experience”, Lamesta said over email. “[Prospective employers] seek stable work history” in potential candidates.
As a recruiter, Lamesta’s clients are the prospective employers who are seeking qualified candidates to fill job needs. The candidate pool Lamesta works with in filling job needs for his clients are generally a 50/50 split between unemployed or individuals who had been unemployed for about six months vs. employed candidates.
“Over the past year”, Lamesta stated over email, “more and more employed candidates are seeking new opportunities”.
A recent report in Forbes magazine suggests the fourth quarter might be the ideal time to begin finding a new job for 2014, or switch fields entirely.
Since hitting a ten-year high in unemployment of 10% in October of 2009, according the BLS website, the state unemployment has been on a downward trend. In 2013, the Pennsylvania unemployment rate had dropped from 7.9% in January, to 7.3% in August. Locally, Lamesta stated the responses to his job postings are overwhelming with both unemployed candidates as well as candidates searching for new opportunities.
Along with the Forbes report, the local increase in the job market might indicate a stronger feeling of job security amongst the workforce. This may also be leading to the increased percentage of employed individuals looking for new employers.
Unlike at the height of the recession, when prospective employers were challenged to create new jobs and new business development, today, employers’ challenges are finding “A+ candidates”, according to Lamesta.
Regardless of your current job situation, best practices indicate you should keep your resume current and updated. Update your resume every quarter to ensure it has all your most recent job information available.
