Temporary Workers in 21st Century Economy

A recent surge in temporary workers is good news for the economy, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Firms have started to hire top-level personnel on a temporary basis to help boost innovation, and during uncertain times, firms feel more secure hiring contingent workers due to the flexibility. Hiring temporary workers boosts economic efficiency, because not all executive roles require permanent staff. Experts maintain that hiring temporary employees on a project basis gets the job done faster and is more cost effective. It also allows companies to rethink how work is organized, allowing them to work closest to the dollar. WallStreetJournal.com - December 1, 2009

Unemployment Stats for November

The unemployment rate decreased to 10% in November, down from 10.2 % in October. The number of people who are unemployed decreased by 325,000 to 15.4 million in November. At the beginning of the recession in December 2007, the jobless rate stood at 4.9%, and the number of employed persons was 7.5 million. Job declines were seen in manufacturing, construction, and information, while temporary help services and health services saw an increase in jobs.

Among the major worker groups, unemployment rates for adult men (10.5 percent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.7 percent), whites (9.3 percent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.7percent) showed little change in November. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs fell by463,000 in November. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 293,000 to 5.9 million. The percentage of unemployed persons jobless for 27 weeks or more increased by 2.7 percentage points to 38.3 percent.