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An April 23, 2012, Associated Press report revealed some troubling information regarding job opportunities for the Class of 2012. It said that half of recent college graduates are jobless or underemployed in positions that don’t use their skills and knowledge fully.

The figures were based on 2011 U.S. Census data analyzed by Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.

While there are still many good job opportunities available for graduates with skills in sciences, technology, education and health care, prospects are dimmer for arts and humanities majors as well as…

According to the SHRM Leading Indicatiors of National Employment (LINE) Report for May 2012, job creation will continue in the manufacturing and service sectors in May 2012, although the rate of growth will not reach the level of a year ago. 

Manufacturing will continue to hire at a solid rate in May. About 40.5 percent of manufacturers will add jobs in May, while 30.4 percent of service sector companies will hire. The rate…

According to the SHRM Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) Report for April 2012, the rate of job growth will fall short of levels reached last year, yet hiring in the manufacturing and service sectors will continue in April.  

                April will be another strong month for manufacturing hiring in April. While 43.3 percent of manufacturers will add positions in April,…

According to the SHRM Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) Report for March 2012, the hiring rate will rise slightly in manufacturing, reaching the highest rate since 2006, yet the hiring rate will fall in the service sector. A net of 50.5 percent of manufacturers will add jobs in March and the sector’s index will rise in a year over year basis by a net of 4.8 points.

In the service…

Much has been said about the contribution of the “skills mismatch” to the United States’ elevated unemployment rate. Even President Barack Obama weighed in during his State of the Union address, calling it “inexcusable” that there are job openings in many industries that can’t be filled while millions of Americans are looking for work.   Although most economists argue that joblessness is largely a function of lowered demand at the moment, simple math says there’s also something else going on: There are 13…

2011 will not be remembered as a hallmark of post-recession job creation, but there’s some hope hidden beneath the gloomy headlines kicking off 2012. It’s easy to forget that job growth is a lagging economic indicator. This is what lends to the frustration so many of us have when we keep hearing that consumers are spending more, that corporations are raking in record-level profits and that there’s little fear that the economy will slide back into a…

At SHRM we have been researching some of the factors that are affecting job growth in the U.S. This is important information for HR professionals who are on the frontline and in the trenches dealing with the filling of jobs. Although there are many reasons that U.S. job growth is very slow, SHRM Research has identified some problematic issues that need solutions from HR professionals.

American businesses are facing a paradox – in the midst of high unemployment and slow job growth, many organizations are faced with inability to fill key jobs in their organizations.…