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Companies see growth but few new jobs: poll
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WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Few U.S. companies plan to step up hiring in the next six months although they do expect the economy to be a bit stronger this year, according to a poll released on Monday.
The National Association for Business Economics' industry survey found that two-thirds of respondents expected no change in employment at their companies over the first half of the year. That was the highest share in recent quarters.
Although the U.S. jobless rate fell to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent in December, fewer businesses said they would hire more workers, compared with the previous industry poll.
The survey, which was conducted between December 15 2011, and January 5 2012, found that 65 percent of respondents expect gross domestic product growth to exceed 2 percent between the fourth quarter of last year and the last quarter of 2012.
That was higher than the 1.6 percent growth rate economists polled by Reuters found.
About two-thirds of the companies surveyed said the European debt crisis would have little impact on their sales over the first half the year, while 27 percent of respondents said they expected to see a decline in sales of 10 percent or less.
(Reporting By Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Jan Paschal)
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Some companies will find that the service sector is better served if it is done in the US, so there could be some growth there.
The big problem is retail job growth does not create a middle class, it can only supplement it. Staples or WalMart cannot send your kids to college. It can help as a second family income or for the college student to get a summer job, but lately the summer job has become the realm of the laid off full time worker.
It is tough out there. Home construction and home sales and the whole business surrounding, pretty much an All American industry from materials, trucking, timber, concrete and the labor in the trades electrical/plumbing/carpentry along with General Contractors, used to be 20% of the US market of jobs. Those jobs will not return, the bubble economy is gone, we have over built.
The US needs the young to have some new ideas, the Generation Facebook needs to pick up where Steve Jobs left off.
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