The US Department of Labor announced today that there are 3.9 million jobs waiting to be filled in the American labor market in their Job Openings and Turnover Rate report. They further reported that 4.5 million hires and 4.4 million total job separations occurred in August 2013. That is a lot of movement! Companies across the spectrum hire and shed workers constantly.
US DOL Separations report measures voluntary as well as involuntary movement in the labor market: quits, layoffs, discharges(firings) and other separations (deaths, etc.).
"Quit rates are one of the best measures of workers" willingness or ability to leave jobs"and are an indicator of how much risk workers are willing to take. More quits occur when workers perceive a good market for their skills than when we are in a slow economy. "Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle."
Between August 2012 and August 2013 "hires totaled 52.3 million and separations totaled 50.4 million, yielding a net employment gain of 1.9 million."
52.3 million people got hired last year and you might have been one of them if you were looking.
The unemployment rate in the US is still high because we need to generate more jobs for the number of people actually looking for work.
The US Rate of Unemployment has been steadily dropping for four years:
October 2009 - 10%
October 2010 - 9.5%
October 2011 - 8.9%
October 2012 - 7.9%
September 2013 - 7.2%
People enter and exit the job market constantly. How do they find the jobs and the companies who are hiring?
People find jobs through connections and by targeting companies - being in the right place at the right time or going direct to the companies that hire in the industry that fits their interests. About 80% of people report getting their jobs through friends, acquaintances or direct contact with potential employers.
Job seekers find jobs at job fairs, company tours, open houses, professional conferences, and by going direct to companies that interest them.
Targeting companies is made easier with list of companies in various industries. Finding the companies that you want to work for means developing and working your contacts. You have to do the research and you have to make contact.
The Business Journal publishes in markets across the country and your digital subscription includes the most fabulous books of lists and industry supplements for the markets where they publish. They have lists with company data for every industry from engineering firms and construction firms to hospitals, consulting firms,manufacturers,colleges and universities, software companies, high tech manufacturers, and everything in between. This is the best source of company lists across the US that I have ever found!
Here are the links for the Business Journals – some are clustered under bizjournals.com and some are independent so if you do not find the city you want- type the city name with the words "business journal"and see what comes up.
Sacramento and many other cities: http://www.bizjournals.com/commerce
Los Angeles: http://www.labusinessjournal.com/
Orange County: http://www.ocbj.com/
San Francisco: http://www.sfvbj.com/
San Diego: http://www.sdbj.com/
Finding the right needle in the haystack for you is made easy by the Business Journals! Get on with your search!!!
