The Leading Independent Institutional Research Firm for Equity Market Liquidity
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TrimTabs Investing:
Using Liquidity Theory
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the Stock Market
Charles Biderman,
with David Santschi
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Hardcover, 2005
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Rays of hope on the job front
By Paul J. Lim For
starters, managers and executives who found work in the fourth quarter
of 2004 landed their new jobs at the fastest pace in more than three
years, according to a new survey by the outplacement firm Challenger,
Gray & Christmas.
Among managers hired in the fourth quarter, it typically took 3.3 months to find a new job. That's the shortest average job search since the third quarter of 2001. For example, it took managers four months on average to find new work in the third quarter of 2004. While this news seems to offer little solace to rank-and-file workers, the success of managers in finding work is actually a good harbinger for the entire labor market, according to John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray. Why? In the beginning stages of a hiring cycle, companies tend to fill senior positions first. "Employers are gearing up for the expansion ahead by adding strength and numbers to their management ranks," Challenger said. "This build up is often followed by increased hiring at lower levels of the corporate ladder and a shift in focus from workforce reduction to workforce retention." Another good sign: 86 percent of the managers who found work at the end of 2004 landed jobs with equivalent or higher salaries than at their prior jobs, according to the Challenger Job Market Index. That's up from the fourth quarter of 2003, when only 78 percent of newly employed managers found work at the same or better pay. Salaries are beginning to surge throughout the labor market. According to a separate analysis by Trimtabs Investment Research, income and employment tax withholdings grew at an annualized pace of 8 percent over the past six weeks and 10 percent over the past two weeks. Typically, during times of moderate economic growth, income and employment tax withholdings grow at around 5 percent, according to Trimtabs. "During the month of December and the first two weeks of January, the growth rate in income and employment tax withholdings was equivalent to a job creation rate of 4.4 million new jobs per year," said Madeline Schnapp, editor of TrimTabs Personal Income. |