Uncovering May Industry Trends and Looking Ahead

May jobs increased by 559,000, which is a 0.4% improvement over prior month. The unemployment rate slightly decreased to 5.8%, which is down by 0.3% month over month. The number of unemployed Americans fell by 496,000 to 9.3 million. These numbers are considerably down from their recent highs in April 2020 but still remain above their levels prior to the pandemic.

The leisure and hospitality (+292,000), health care and social assistance (+45,800), and professional and technical services (+26,000) industries showed the strongest growth. These increases are likely due to a combination of reasons warmer weather and vaccine distribution encouraging travel. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly two-thirds of this industry increase was in restaurants and bars.

According to a recent article from Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), May is the biggest monthly gain since June 2020. “Private payrolls showed a marked improvement from recent months and the strongest gain since the early days of the recovery,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “While goods producers grew at a steady pace, it is service providers that accounted for the lion’s share of the gains, far outpacing the monthly average in the last six months. Companies of all sizes experienced an uptick in job growth, reflecting the improving nature of the pandemic and economy.”

As the job market continues to evolve, Adecco continues to innovate the staffing and recruiting industry. Whether you’re actively looking for your next opportunity or you’re curious about market pay rates in your current role, our Salary Calculator is the perfect tool to utilize when strategizing your career.

At Adecco, we take a data-led approach to analyze the total cost impact of hiring and speed to revenue for your company. If you’re looking to see how a particular job stacks up, enhance your hiring efforts, increase your speed to fill, or maximize your retention, our calculator is just the first step.

Summer is Almost Here, Vaccinations Continue, and Extended Stimulus is Here

As we reach the halfway point of 2021 with the new administration in office and the pandemic still amidst, we are keeping an eye on trends within the healthcare industry including vaccination as well as continued testing.

Additionally, with continued stimulus assistance updates, market demand is hitting record highs and workforce talent is becoming harder to find. With the recently extended stimulus, many workers are seeking higher rates when going back to work. In a recent article by The New York Times, Amy Glaser, Senior Vice President at Adecco said former restaurant workers and others were migrating toward warehousing jobs that had raised wages to as high as $23 an hour and customer service jobs that could be done from home.

Adecco remains ahead of the stimulus updates by analyzing the latest data and creating innovative tools and resources, such as this 2021 Stimulus Effect Tool. This tool assesses the latest stimulus payments and tax credits and their direct impact on companies’ ability to recruit the workforce they need to meet demand in this recovering economy. For more information on the recent stimulus updates, be sure to check out this recent blog.

Mass sites for vaccinations are continuing to expand across the nation, with each state varying in rules and regulations for vaccine distribution. In fact, this is the biggest vaccination campaign in history, according to Bloomberg. Vaccinations in the U.S. began on December 14, 2020, with healthcare workers and so far, millions of shots have been given. For live updates on these statistics, be sure to check out Bloomberg’s live tracker as well as the CDC website.

At Adecco, we’ve been leading the trend in supporting contact tracing programs for multiple lines of businesses. Overall, we have processed 20.5 million+ COVID specimens, placed 1,800+ contact tracers, and have supported several state-wide programs. Learn more about specific programs here on our website.

As we look ahead into 2021, Adecco has the knowledge and resources needed to fill your hiring needs in all of these industries. Learn more about how we can help your organization with our top talent network.