Job Market Looks Good

By Tim Simmers, BUSINESS WRITER

While one in five job seekers take a break between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, it’s actually a great time of year to find new, high- paying jobs, a staffing company report revealed Wednesday.

The government also backed up the finding Wednesday, saying that the job market is heating up because of falling energy and gas prices.

The new jobs are not just for temporary, seasonal positions, either. There are lots of permanent, full-time jobs in corporate America, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“The end of the year used to be a slow period for most businesses, but the 24/7 global economy has changed all that,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of global outplacement at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “There is no slow period.”

Challenger said employers are currently adding jobs at a strong pace, and there’s no indication that will weaken in coming months. He noted that taking a job search break now could cost the job seeker many employment opportunities.

The government’s new snapshot of the nation’s employment climate is due out next week, and many economists are forecasting payrolls will have grown by more than 200,000 jobs for November. That’s a solid turnaround after two dismal months of job creation blamed on Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Part of the rationale for a job recovery is that business people are in a better frame of mind and inclined to boost hiring now that gas and other energy prices have pulled back from record highs. The nation’s energy supply and transportation disruptions from hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma are also fading.

“We’ll have very solid overall jobgains that will punctuate the start of more normalcy in terms of employment,” said Brian Bethune, economist at Global Insight. He predicts the Labor Department’s monthly employment report to be released next week will show a gain of about

215,000 U.S. jobs in November.

The Challenger report stressed that many job seekers take a break during the holidays, mistakenly believing that employers don’t hire at this time.

Challenger noted that companies are setting their budgets for the coming year, so managers know what they have to work with in terms of expansion. Some managers speed up the hiring process to use funds from the current year, Challenger said.

In September, national employment declined for the first time in two years; in October, payrolls grew by just 56,000 — a subpar performance. High energy prices — made worse by the hurricanes — were cited as a big factor.

In the Bay Area, job growth was relatively strong in October, with many new jobs in construction, government and education jobs, as well as leisure and hospitality, health care, and professional services.

Despite significant layoffs across the country, too — General Motors just announced a job cut of 30,000 — high-paying jobs are being created, said Challenger. He added that many jobs are filled during the holiday period, and the hiring process for others is too far along by the time January arrives.

On a positive job creation note, Federal Reserve policy-makers at their Nov. 1 meeting said the hurricanes only “temporarily depressed” employment.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that new applications filed for jobless benefits rose by 30,000 to 335,000 for the week ending Nov. 19. But even with the increase, the level of claims is well below October’s weekly average of 350,000.

“I think any number below 350,000 is associated with good job growth,” said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. “I think we are definitely getting back on track for fundamentally good job generation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.