What job sectors are hiring most right now?
The unemployment rate remains at 4.9 percent, the lowest it has been in eight years. While there are many factors that contribute to or distort this figure, employment is on the rise in certain essential industries.
What industries saw the most growth?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Situation Summary, the health care and social assistance, private education services, retail and food services industries experienced the most job growth this year. Of these industries, health care and social assistance added 242,000 jobs in February alone, while over the past 12 months, hospitals gained 181,000 new employees. Meanwhile, retail was the next job sector with the most growth.
“Retail added 55,000 jobs, and while I expected to see growth, this is a very strong number especially for the month of February,” Joanie Courtney, senior vice president of Monster Worldwide, told Yahoo News. “That sector is interesting to watch right now since they’re under a lot of wage pressure. We saw that Costco, one of the largest retailers in the country, announced that it is raising wages. So the retail sector is adding jobs, they will be raising wages, and that will ultimately lead to the hourly wage moving up, which was the only downside to this report today.”
“The unemployment rate remains at 4.9 percent.”
If wages are rising in these industries, this leads to higher standards of living for many Americans and a more eager applicant pool for hiring managers to choose from across the country. Employees who are paid more and work in a supportive environment are less likely to leave their jobs for other opportunities.
Despite certain retailers raising wages, however, the report showed that hourly wages were only up 2.2 percent in February from the following year, and down 2.5 percent from January. Though many companies are improving wages, that doesn’t mean all are.
What does this growth mean for hiring managers?
Hiring managers in the health care and retail industries can take further advantage of this hiring boom through being more selective about applicants they choose to onboard. A larger pool of interested candidates means that hiring managers can afford the luxury of taking more time to thoroughly vet each applicant, even testing them on relevant skills to ensure that their resume matches their actual knowledge and talent.
To test applicants on their skills, hiring managers can turn to pre-employment tests. These tests provide reliable results, showing which candidates possess the necessary skills required for the open position, eliminating the risk of accidently hiring unqualified employees. Contact EmployTest today to learn more about our services and see how we can help you make smarter hiring decisions at your company.