Employment growth increased in October and mid-November, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released Wednesday. The Beige Book, a collection of observations from the 12 federal regional banks, provides a snapshot of current economic conditions. Most districts characterized the employment growth as modest to moderate, with widespread reports of tightness in the labor market.

Wage increases were most notable for professional, technical and production positions that remain difficult to fill. Many districts reported employers were raising wages as well as increasing the use of signing bonuses and other nonwage benefits to retain or attract employees.

Observations by staffing firms include:

Boston: Most responding staffing firms realized revenue gains, even in the face of limited available labor. All firms remarked heavily on the sparse supply of labor and increased costs in locating talent, while noting that labor demand remains very strong across the board. Health and tech jobs were reportedly particularly difficult to fill. Bill rates and pay rates have reportedly begun to rise at a faster pace, and clients were offering more generous signing bonuses, paid leave and other perks to attract talent. All respondents expected tight labor market conditions to continue into 2018, and most saw a more challenging market for staffing firms with increased competition for the remaining labor supply.

Philadelphia: Staffing firms continued to report difficulties filling job orders and noted that an inordinate amount of their business is refilling positions due to turnover, including quits by recent placements.

Atlanta: Business contacts continued to describe efforts to enhance and modernize their corporate culture in order to encourage people to join the firm and to build loyalty among existing employees. Staffing agencies shared that from the job seeker’s perspective, these non-wage mechanisms were increasing in importance as compared with compensation. 

Chicago: Although contacts reported hiring was reportedly focused on professional and technical, sales, and production workers, a staffing firm that primarily supplies manufacturers with production workers reported little change in billable hours.

Minneapolis: A Minnesota staffing contact said current hiring demand was 5% higher than last year, but turnover remained high, and “we continue to see fewer candidates.” A Minneapolis-St. Paul staffing contact said his firm was seeing “a ton of wage pressure this year,” with increases of 5% to 7%.