Beige Book: Tight labor market, staffing firms report steady demand

Labor market conditions remained tight, with modest employment and wage growth noted over the reporting period from late August to early October, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released Wednesday. Staffing services demand grew at about the same pace or improved slightly since...

Economic index points to moderate growth through early 2017

The Conference Board’s Leading Economic index for the US edged up in September, suggesting the economy will continue expanding at a moderate pace through the start of the next year. The index rose 0.2% in September to a reading of 124.4 (2010 = 100). following a 0.2% decline in August and a 0.5% increase...

Median earnings of US workers up 3.0% in Q3

Median weekly earnings of US full-time wage and salary workers rose 3.0% year over year in the third quarter to $827 (not seasonally adjusted), the US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today.

Women who usually worked full time had median weekly earnings of $745, or 81.8% of the $911 median for men,...

Jobless claims in US rise after falling to four-decade low (Bloomberg)

Filings for US unemployment benefits rose last week by the most since July, after spending several weeks at or near a four-decade low, Bloomberg reports. The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 251,750 last week, up 2,250 from the previous week’s revised...

Start with executive sponsorship, don’t wait for the RFI (CWS 3.0)

Using the “request for information” as a means to secure support causes the company to miss the opportunity to develop an RFI aimed at delivering against the various — and often conflicting — needs of the executive stakeholder group, according to an article in the CWS 3.0 newsletter by Peter...

Wage growth maintains pace in third quarter, ADP report finds

The US labor market maintained its trend of growth in wages in the third quarter, according to the ADP Workforce Vitality Report released today.

The report tracks a set of workers to determine wage growth among those who are consistently employed. This set of workers falls into two categories: job...

Compensation up median 7% for top execs at publicly traded US staffing firms

Compensation rose a median 6.96% for top executives at publicly traded staffing firms in North America, according to a new report. However, the compensation actually decreased a median 12.64% among executives at Europe-based staffing firms and by a median 4.19% for firms based in other parts of the world....

StraussGroup acquires pharmaceutical search firm

StraussGroup, a Buffalo, NY-based based executive search firm, acquired Fiorella Search Group, a small search firm targeting the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical industries.

The transaction closed Oct. 3; terms were not disclosed.

Fiorella Search Group brand will not remain, but founder Nicole...

Average holiday bonus will be $1,081 this year, survey says

The average holiday bonus this year is expected to be $1,081, with 29% of companies planning to give employees $1,000 or more, according to a survey released by Jacksonville Fla.-based Accounting Principals. This is up from 2015, when companies planned to give employees $858.

Additionally, 75% of HR and...

New EEOC plan to include Gig Economy (Littler Mendelson)

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this week approved an updated Strategic Enforcement Plan for fiscal years 2017 to 2021, setting out its priorities and strategies for the near term, and it includes the Gig Economy. Barry Hartstein, co-chair of the EEOC and diversity practice group at law...