iCIMS monthly hiring report indicates a painful June for employers

U.S. employers’ hiring in June dropped off more than usual, indicating a softer month than expected. Before seasonal adjustments, new hires declined 7.6% and new job openings declined 1.4% in June, according to iCIMS’ Monthly Hiring Indicator (MHI). This is the first month-over-month decline in U.S. employers’ hires and openings since February, led by financial services.

The MHI is a leading economic indicator published by iCIMS, drawing upon its database of more than 75 million applications and 4 million hires each year. New hires translate directly into payroll growth, after netting out departures, layoffs and other separations.

“Over the past four years, our data show that June is typically a slow month, but things were cooler than usual this year. This could be the first sign of the economic slowdown we’ve been anticipating,” said Josh Wright, Chief Economist at iCIMS. “Employers seem to be following a ‘wait and see’ approach, pausing some of their recruiting efforts. They should stay attuned to news on trade policy, expected rate cuts, and business confidence indicators.”

June 2019 U.S. New Hires and Openings Highlights:

• All sectors that iCIMS tracks saw declines in hires, with the biggest dip in financial activities (11% decline) before seasonal adjustments. This is the second consecutive weak month for both hiring and job openings in financial services.
• In contrast to the weakness in financial services, there were pockets of growth in openings across a variety of sectors. Manufacturing saw a 4.6% increase in new job openings before seasonal adjustments and a 10% increase after seasonal adjustments. The strength in manufacturing was driven by an uptick in job openings for customer service representatives and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers. Education & health services also had a strong month in job openings, with 3.3% growth non-seasonally adjusted, driven by the need to fill registered nurse, nursing assistant, and licensed practical and vocational nurse roles.
• Most of the 18 cities that iCIMS tracks saw a decline in hires, except four – Seattle (16.3% increase), Denver (15.5% increase), Dallas (1.9% increase) and San Diego (1.7% increase) – before factoring in seasonal adjustments. With seasonal adjustments, Houston and Washington D.C. also saw hiring grow.
• San Diego had another month of strong growth in job openings (36.9% after seasonal adjustments and 35% before adjustments). Other cities that saw growth in job openings include the Baltimore (13.4%) and Seattle (10.4%).

SOURCE iCIMS

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