The U.S. jobs market is finally nearing the pre-pandemic highs. While hiring rose at a record pace in July, job openings are at an all-time high in the country.
This indicates that as the economy is reopening, more jobs are being created and employers are on a hiring spree. Thus, staffing firms are likely to get busy once again after things slowed down last year, following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Job Opening at All-Time High
The number of job openings increased by 590,000 in June to hit a record high of 10.1 million, the Labor Department said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey last week. This surpassed analysts’ expectations of 9.28 million.
Vacancies soared across the country, with the job openings rate jumping 6.5% month over month in June. The previous record of 9.3 million job openings was set just two months back in April.
Earlier, the pandemic had unsettled markets with millions going jobless but things started changing following the massive vaccination drive. Since the beginning of this year, jobs are being created with the U.S. economy reopening at a rapid pace.
However, employers have been scrambling to hire due to the demand and supply imbalance. A surge in demand is, however, a positive sign of a faster-than-expected economic recovery.
Hiring Hits New Highs
Hiring rose at a record pace in July, the fastest in almost a year. The Labor Department said that nonfarm payrolls increased 943,000. The jump in July payrolls is the biggest and fastest since August 2020. The unemployment rate declined to 5.4% in July from 5.9% in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Interestingly, June’s jump in job openings comes despite growing fears of the Delta variant of coronavirus.
The highest vacancies in June were in professional and business services, retail trade, hospitality and food services. Despite the high number of job openings, the ratio of openings to hiring is at historically high levels.
Our Choices
With more job openings, hiring is expected to rise further. This thus makes for an ideal opportunity to invest in staffing stocks.
Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. HSII serves the executive talent and leadership needs of the world's top organizations as the premier provider of leadership consulting, culture shaping and senior-level executive search services.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 17.1% over the past 30 days. Heidrick & Struggles sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Cross Country Healthcare (NASDAQ:CCRN), Inc. CCRN is a national leader in providing innovative healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services. Their diverse client base includes both clinical and nonclinical settings, servicing acute care hospitals, physician practice groups, outpatient and ambulatory-care centers, nursing facilities, both public schools and charter schools, rehabilitation and sports medicine clinics, government facilities, and homecare.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 14.4% over the past 30 days. Cross Country Healthcare has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN) Inc. MAN is one of the leading providers of innovative workforce solutions and services across the globe. The company has a well-established network of 2,500 offices in 75 countries and territories.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 89.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 10.1% over the past 30 days. ManpowerGroup holds a Zacks Rank #2.
KornFerry International KFY is the world's leading and largest executive recruitment firm with the broadest global presence in the executive recruitment industry.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 64.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 21.5% over the past 30 days. KornFerry International carries a Zacks Rank #2.
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