A Sneak-peek of the Public and Private Sectors Responsible for Contributing and Subtracting Employment in the U.S.

After having revealed the hidden figures and unemployment rate in the U.S., it is mandatory to delve further into which private and public sectors are generating and contracting employment within the nation.

Per the recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports, segments like Health Care (15,000 new jobs), Leisure and Hospitality (53,000), Retail Trade (44,000), Professional and Technical (21,000) and Manufacturing businesses (19,000 jobs) have all added the maximum number of jobs. Contrastingly, the Federal Government continues to decline to the tune of 12,000 jobs lost in the latest month alone. Unfortunately, even though Health Care, which has been a major engine for jobs growth for many years, had increased last month and every month this year, the rate of jobs increase has declined this year by almost an average of 10,000 per month compared to last year!

Based upon the BLS reports and figures, my analysis reveals that with only 204,000 jobs created last month, it may take at least 7 years get back to pre-recession jobs levels! This is an alarming situation, which raises a lot of questions about the labor policies (or lack thereof) adopted by the U.S. Government. This matter needs immediate attention by the respective governing bodies to avoid a major, future jobs calamity.

Talking Points for the month

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the principal jobs fact-finding agency of U.S.Government. It provides the most accurate job numbers in the U.S. including gathering, processing, examining and publishing the requisite statistical information. They usually provide their reports on every month’s first Friday. The data provided lags by one month (e.g. in November, data for October is reported). Their most recent report showed that the total number of non farm jobs rose by 204,000 (An increase of 56,000 over the previous month). Summing up the BLS figures for the last six months, almost 1,053,000 new jobs were created!

Unfortunately, my analysis of the most recent BLS figures shows that 16% of all U.S. workers, or 1 in 6,was either: a) unemployed (a person having no job) or b) underemployed (a person who involuntarily works part time when they are really in need of and searching for a full time job) or c)someone who had just given up looking for work and did not form part of BLS figures and calculations. Their figures are based on the number of people actively looking for jobs.

With the calculation of the  overall unemployment rate, BLS also computes the figures for each state. For example, for my state of Illinois, the unemployment rate was 9.2%. This was 1.9% higher than the National unemployment rate of 7.3%, which rose .1%over the previous month.BLS also computes which industries are adding and losing the most jobs. Some of the industry-wide figures for the most recent reporting month show:

• 15,000 new jobs were added in the Health Care field; though the rate of increase declined (i.e. 17,000 added per month this year versus 27,000 added per month last year)
• Jobs in the Leisure and Hospitality Industry increased by 53,000.
• Jobs in the Retail Trade Industry increased by 44,000.
• 21,000 jobs were added in the Professional & Technical Services Industry.
• 19,000 jobs were added in Manufacturing.
• However, The Federal Government continues to shed jobs with 12,000 jobs lost last month.

Unfortunately, my calculations also show that it will take over 7 years, with only 1,053,000 new jobs created in the last six months, to get back to per-recession employment levels! For economy like USA, which drives the world’s economy,this is terrible news.

5 interview questions to reveal the inner strength of a candidate

If you are not able to find the right candidate for your job posting, it may be because your conventional interview process is not geared towards identifying the inner strength of a candidate.

Instead of dwelling on the past, a good alternative is to ask candidates to solve real world problems and let them demonstrate their inner potential.

The reason companies are not getting exceptional hires is because their interviews are simply not designed to allow top candidates to exhibit their abilities, ideas, and innovation. As a result, recruiting does not usually pan out as expected.

Listed below are the 5 magical interview questions, which will not only will help you to find the right contender for the job, but also allow candidates to reveal their potentials!

5 interview questions to ask–

1. How will you recognize the problems and opportunities on the job?
2. How will you resolve the problem that you will face?
3. Forecast the evolution of this job?
4. Demonstrate how you innovate?
5. Rank the capabilities that you bring to this job?

The questions listed above are designed to both: a) uncover candidate’s true skills and b) their strengths in handling and solving the real world situations.