Gig economy is a bellwether — Staffing quote of the week

WIRED reports the gig economy is a bellwether for a broader shift to an Internet-powered workforce. “Vast sectors of our economy could change quickly,” said Michelle Miller, co-founder of the worker advocacy platform Coworker.org. “You could imagine that 25 years from now, whole industries are...

Lyft gets $1 billion in funding — including $500 million from GM

Human cloud firm Lyft received $1 billion — including $500 million from automaker General Motors — in a new investment round announced Monday.

Lyft ranked No. 6 on Staffing Industry Analysts’ list of largest human cloud firms. Monday’s investment round will bring total funds raised by the...

General Employment buys IT staffing firm Paladin Consulting

General Employment Enterprises Inc. (NYSE MKT: JOB) acquired Dallas-based IT and professional staffing company Paladin Consulting Inc.

The acquisition expands General Employment’s footprint in Texas and Washington, DC, and adds MSP, VMS and RPO service capability in the IT and professional staffing...

CorTech acquires Virginia staffing firm

CorTech LLC, a global staffing provider based in Atlanta, continued its recent acquisition spree with the purchase of Richmond, Va.-based Partnership Staffing on Dec. 31.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company said the transaction immediately adds to positive cash flow and EBITDA.

Partnership...

ISM manufacturing index falls to lowest level since 2009

The US manufacturing sector contracted for the second consecutive month in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers index for US manufacturing. The index fell to a reading of 48.2 in December, down from November’s reading of 48.6.

Readings above 50.0 indicate...

Canadian manufacturing PMI falls in December

The Royal Bank of Canada’s Canadian manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to a reading of 47.5 in December, below the neutral 50.0 value in December for the fifth consecutive month, reflecting the sharpest deterioration in overall conditions since October 2010.

The index fell to a reading...

Pulse survey finds deceleration in temp revenue growth

US temporary staffing revenue rose a median 9% year over year in November among staffing firms taking part in Staffing Industry Analysts’ monthly Pulse Survey. The 9% growth in November is a deceleration from the 11% growth rate reported in October.

“Though median year-over-year temporary staffing...

Online staffing firm Sidecar backs out of ride, delivery businesses

Ridesharing provider Sidecar will cease ride-sharing and delivery operations effective at 2 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, co-founder and CEO Sunil Paul wrote in a post Tuesday on Medium. However, he reported it’s not the end of the company.

“Our vision is to reinvent transportation and we’ve...

General Employment revenue up 9% in fiscal year

General Employment Enterprises Inc. (NYSE MKT: JOB), an Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based staffing provider, reported net revenue rose 9% to $43.4 million in its fiscal year 2015 ended Sept. 30. However, net loss for the year increased.

St. Paul/Bloomington posts lowest jobless rate

The St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn., area had the lowest unemployment rate in November, at 2.7%, among US metropolitan areas with populations of 1 million or more, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise metropolitan area in Nevada posted the highest jobless rate among...