Unemployment filings decrease in May

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 Economic Snapshot

The number of people filing for unemployment decreased this month both nationally and in Wisconsin, according to U.S. Department of Labor data released Thursday.

Nationally, 409,000 people filed for unemployment during the second week of May, compared with 438,000 the previous week. In Wisconsin, 3,556 fewer people filing claims during the first week of May than in the last week of April.

However, 3.9 percent of Wisconsin’s work force had unemployment insurance at the end of April, tying Wisconsin for fifth-highest of any state. Alaska ranked highest with a rate of 5.8 percent. The nationwide seasonally adjusted rate was 3 percent.

Thanks to Business Journal.

ManpowerGroup: Employers struggling to find qualified workers

Related:Human resources

A new study by ManpowerGroup has found that one in three employers globally are experiencing difficulty filling jobs due to lack of available talent, the highest percentage since before the recession began in 2007.

Ninety percent of employers cite candidate-specific factors behind the challenge of filling mission-critical roles — including a lack of necessary skills and experience, insufficient qualifications or a lack of soft skills.

“As the chaos and complexity of the post-recession era have irrevocably changed the way the world works, employers can no longer solely rely on a ‘just in time’ approach to hiring, expecting ‘on-demand’ talent to be available wherever and whenever they need it,” said Jeff Joerres, chairman and CEO of Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), a global staffing and employment services firm.

“It would be unthinkable for a company to plot its growth strategy without identifying a sustainable supply of raw materials, so employers must ensure they have the talent in place to support their business goals.

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Regionally, employers in the Americas are having more trouble filling jobs than the global average, with 37 percent of employers reporting difficulty filling positions due to lack of available talent.

The most difficult jobs to fill globally are technicians, sales representatives and skilled trades workers, according to ManpowerGroup’s survey of almost 40,000 employers across 39 countries and territories. These are the same jobs that employers have reported having difficulty filling for the past four years, underlining the need to re-evaluate how they are recruiting for these positions, according to ManpowerGroup management.

The most difficult positions to fill in the Americas closely resemble those on the global list, with technicians, sales representatives, skilled trades workers and engineers leading the list of difficult vacancies. Vacancies for technicians are the most difficult to fill in the Americas for the fourth consecutive year.

Thanks to the Business Journal of America.