Professional payrolls hold clues to job market

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An April rebound in professional jobs such as health care and technology has boosted the spirits of staffing executives, although few of them see big job additions anytime soon.

Demand for workers with professional and technical skills helped moderate U.S. job losses last month, as growth in the professional area rebounded after three consecutive months of losses.

The 39,000 professional jobs added in April helped offset continued losses in construction, manufacturing and retail. Overall, the U.S. economy lost 20,000 jobs last month, much fewer than expected, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 5 percent, defying expectations for an increase.

"My big concern was professional skills and they came right back," said Tig Gilliam, who heads the North American operations for Adecco SA.

The gain in professional jobs was in marked contrast to the 2001 recession, when such jobs abruptly dried up, he said.

"It's a strong sign that, even in a sideways economy, there are good job opportunities for people with skills," Gilliam said.

On Friday, Adecco had 2,700 open positions in finance and accounting nationally and 1,800 open engineering and technology jobs. That is down from a few months ago, but may be a sign of stability in the overall labor market.

"My gut feeling is we're going to have more sideways news," Gilliam said.

EARLY SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE