Health care employment continued to increase in October with an extra 29,000 jobs. Since the start of the recession, health care has added 597,000 positions. Temporary help services also added 34,000 jobs in October.

Average weekly earnings rose by only 0.9 percent to $619.63 due to a fall in the average working week.

October 2009 weekly earnings by industry sector

Average weekly earnings in August rose by only 0.8 percent to $624.29 due to reductions in the average working week.

August 2009 weekly earnings by industry sector

“These statistics allow users to track annual trends in nonemployer businesses down to the local level,” said C. Harvey Monk Jr., Associate Director for Economic Programs at the U.S. Census Bureau. “Businesses can use this data to help analyze market potential, to measure the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs and to develop their budgets.”

Total receipts for nonemployer businesses were $992 billion in 2007, a 2.2 percent increase from 2006.   Most nonemployers are self-employed individuals operating very small unincorporated businesses.  Of the total nonemployer businesses, 19.1 million were sole proprietorships, 1.4 million were corporations and 1.2 million were partnerships.

California (2.8 million), Texas (1.8 million) and Florida (1.6 million) had the most nonemployer businesses in the country, making up nearly 29 percent of all nonemployer businesses. Receipts of nonemployer firms in these same states totaled nearly $308 billion — 31 percent of all receipts from nonemployer businesses nationwide.

Among all states, Georgia led the nation in the growth rate of nonemployer businesses with a 6.9 percent increase between 2006 and 2007, followed by Alabama at 6.8 percent and North Carolina with a 6.7 percent increase.

Three economic sectors made up more than 40 percent of the total receipts — real estate services ($177 billion); professional, technical and scientific services ($130 billion); and specialty trade contractors ($97 billion). These three sectors comprised of 7.2 million businesses and represented more than 33 percent of all nonemployer businesses.

The plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors industry reported a 9 percent increase in nonemployer businesses in 2007, representing 11,000 additional businesses nationwide. The 137,990 businesses that made up this industry reported more than $8.1 billion in receipts, an average of nearly $59,000 per location. Among counties, Los Angeles, California  (4,596), Harris, Texas (2,898) and Miami-Dade, Florida  (2,480), had the most nonemployer plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor locations.

The florists industry reported an increase of nearly 1,400 nonemployer businesses in 2007, to 25,609, with national receipts totaling $992 million.  California led all other states in revenue in the industry with nearly $175 million in receipts. Among larger counties, Palm Beach, Florida. ($65,993), Honolulu ($63,735) and Multnomah, Oregon ($63,100), generated the highest average receipts.

The child day care services industry reported 691,289 nonemployer businesses in 2007, with receipts totaling $8.9 billion. Los Angeles County, California  (33,716), Cook County, Illinois (23,760) and Bronx County, New York (18,449), had the most nonemployer child day care businesses, accounting for 11 percent of the businesses and 10 percent of the receipts in this industry. Among larger counties, Washington, Minnesota ($24,371), King, Washington ($21,798) and Anne Arundel, Maryland  ($20,185), generated the highest receipts per establishment.

Total payroll employment dropped by 651,000 in February.  Employment declined in most major industry sectors, with the largest losses occurring in professional and business services (180,000), manufacturing (168,000), and construction (104,000).  The health care sector continued to add a modest number jobs over the month (27,000). Job growth occurred mainly in ambulatory health care and in hospitals.

American payroll employment has declined by 2.6 million in just the past 4 months. Since the recession began in December 2007, about 4.4 million jobs have been lost, with more than half (2.6 million) of the decrease occurring since November 2008.

In February, average hourly earnings of workers on rose to $18.55  and average weekly earnings rose to $617.72.  American wages haven risen sharply in terms of Sterling, as the pound has weakened considerably against the US Dollar recently.

“Though largely anticipated, the labour market data released today provides further evidence of worsening economic conditions in the United States. Even greater losses are expected for the near-term too though,” said Arek Ohanissian at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

<h4>February 2009 earnings by industry sector</h4>
<table width=”390″ cellspacing=”1″ cellpadding=”2″ border=”0″ bgcolor=”darkgray” align=”center”>
<tr>
<td class=”tabletop” style=”width: 130px; height: 30px;”>Industry</td>
<td class=”tabletop” style=”width: 130px” height: 30px;>Average Weekly Earnings $ </td>
<td class=”tabletop” style=”width: 130px” height: 30px;>12 Month % change</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Natural resources and mining  </td>
<td class=”cell”>1008 </td>
<td class=”cell”>2.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Construction </td>
<td class=”cell”>821 </td>
<td class=”cell”>2.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Manufacturing/Durable Goods  </td>
<td class=”cell”>752 </td>
<td class=”cell”>-0.1</td>
</tr>
<td class=”cell”>Manufacturing/Nondurable Goods  </td>
<td class=”cell”>645 </td>
<td class=”cell”>1.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Wholesale trade </td>
<td class=”cell”>784 </td>
<td class=”cell”>3.2</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Retail trade </td>
<td class=”cell”>383 </td>
<td class=”cell”>0.8</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Transportation and
warehousing</td>
<td class=”cell”>666 </td>
<td class=”cell”>1.6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Utilities</td>
<td class=”cell”>1277 </td>
<td class=”cell”>4.7</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Information </td>
<td class=”cell”>923 </td>
<td class=”cell”>4.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Financial activities </td>
<td class=”cell”>758 </td>
<td class=”cell”>6.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Professional and business services</td>
<td class=”cell”>789 </td>
<td class=”cell”>10.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Education and health services</td>
<td class=”cell”>624 </td>
<td class=”cell”>3.3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Leisure and hospitality</td>
<td class=”cell”>276 </td>
<td class=”cell”>2.0</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class=”cell”>Other services</td>
<td class=”cell”>501 </td>
<td class=”cell”>3.8</td>
</tr>
</table>

<br/>

In December, job losses were large and widespread across most major industries.   Most job losses for the month were in the service sector, which shed 273,000 jobs.  Manufacturing employment fell by 149,000, the largest month on month decline since August 2001. Employment in construction fell by 101,000 and retailers cut staff by 67,000.

Bucking the trend, health care employment continued to grow in December (32,000), with month on month job gains in ambulatory services (14,000) and hospitals (12,000).  In 2008, the health care industry added 372,000 jobs.

The average weekly hours worked in December fell by 0.2 hours to 33.3 hours; the lowest level since records began in 1964.

“The drop in average hours worked in this employment report suggests that the first quarter is going to be very, very weak,” said Cary Leahey, economist at Decision Economics.

For those in work, over the past 12 months average weekly earnings rose 2.2 percent.   The information industry, which lost 20,000 jobs in December, recorded the largest annual increase in weekly earnings at 11 percent.

December 2008 earnings not seasonally adjusted

Highlights from the third-quarter data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics were:

Amongst men, those aged 45 to 54 had the highest median weekly earnings ($964). Women aged 45 to 54 had median earnings of $716, just fractionally higher than for women aged 55 to 64 ($715).

Amongst the major occupational groups, those employed full time in management, business, and finance had the highest average weekly earnings at $1135 . Those employed in service jobs earned the least.

Full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $471, compared with $618 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,131 for those holding at least a bachelor’s degree. Among college graduates with advanced degrees (professional or master’s degree and above), the highest earning 10 percent of male workers made $3,192 or more per week, compared with $2,287 or more for their female counterparts

Full Time American Average Weekly Earnings By Occupation
Q3 2008

Only 22 percent of American employers expect to increase their payrolls during the October through December period, 13 percent expect to reduce their payrolls, and and 6 percent aren’t sure what they’re going to do.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman and CEO of Manpower, said:

“The continuing softness in hiring activity comes as no surprise as weakening market conditions are causing many companies to carefully adjust their hiring in line with the demand for their product or service.”

The only sector looking to increase workforce numbers is mining.

Construction, education and public administration look stable.

Manufacturing, transportation/public utilities, wholesale/retail trade, finance/Insurance/real estate and services all look negative, with businesses expecting reduced hiring activity.

“Despite the current business environment and the uncertainty that often comes with pending elections, the near-term employment outlook appears to have stabilised in some industry sectors and continues to grow in Mining, creating potential opportunity for job seekers,” said Jonas Prising, President of Manpower North America.

Employers in the Midwest and Northeast anticipate weakening hiring conditions, while the South is moderately less optimistic than it was last quarter. Employers in the West are slightly more optimistic about hiring plans in the upcoming quarter.

According to Connecticut Better Business Bureau President, Paulette Hotton, the job market is tight and competitive. “In February there were more than 3.8 million openings in the job market. While this sounds like a lot, there were more than twice as many people applying for those jobs. The current unemployment rate is five percent, and the Federal Reserve forecasts that rate will rise as high as 5.7 percent in the coming months.”

Hotton adds, “There are many places job-hunters can go for help landing a job, but they should ensure they are using an organization they can trust.”

Public Employment Service: This is a federally-funded, state-operated program with 1,700 offices across the country. It provides free assistance, and also operates America’s Job Bank which lists hundreds of thousands of job opportunities.

Temporary (Temp) Services: These agencies place people looking for temporary employment and their services are usually free of charge. Temporary positions can sometimes evolve into permanent positions and give job hunters an opportunity to bring in some money while the employment search continues.

Employment Agencies: In some cases, people looking for jobs must pay a fee to these kinds of agencies, which search for employees to fill permanent or part-time positions. Businesses seeking employees, however, typically pay for these employment agency services.

Executive or Career Counseling Services: They help job hunters evaluate their career path and provide guidance on resume writing, interview coaching and presentation. These services may charge thousands of dollars for their services and do not guarantee job placement.

BBB offered the following advice for job seekers when enlisting the help of an agency or counselor:

• Always check out a job placement or career counseling organization first to view reliability reports that show not only how many complaints a company may have received, but also if it works to resolve disputes with clients.

• Carefully review any contracts for counseling or placement services, ensuring all oral promises are included, even if that means taking the contract home and having a trusted friend or relative also review the documents.

• Job seekers should be wary of paying upfront fees to a placement agency, and be extremely cautious when giving out credit card or bank account information.

In July, average hourly earnings edged up by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $18.06, seasonally adjusted. This followed gains of 6 cents in May and 5 cents in June.

Data on American average weekly earnings are collected from the payroll reports of private non-farm establishments. Earnings of both full-time and part-time workers holding production or non-supervisory jobs are included.

July 2008 earnings not seasonally adjusted

In June, average hourly earnings edged up by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $18.01, seasonally adjusted. This followed gains of 2 cents in April and 6 cents in May.

Data on American average weekly earnings are collected from the payroll reports of private non-farm establishments. Earnings of both full-time and part-time workers holding production or non-supervisory jobs are included.

June 2008 earnings not seasonally adjusted