Hiring prospects

COEUR d'ALENE - With the Memorial Day weekend quickly fading into a soggy memory, and the summer season of tourists and others getting out and spending money, the prospects for jobs in North Idaho are looking brighter.

But nationwide, small businesses are a little reluctant to add new employees to their payroll.

"Since January 2008, the average employment per firm has been negative every month, including May 2010, which yielded a seasonally adjusted loss of negative 0.5 workers per firm," said William C. Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, in a statement ahead of the small business organization's release of its May monthly economic survey. "Most firms did not change employment in May, but for those that did, 8 percent increased average employment by 2.4 employees and 20 percent reduced their workforces by an average of four employees."

The picture is improving in Kootenai County, however.

"In the last 30 to 45 days we have seen an uptick in contingent placements in manufacturing," said Nancy Nelson, president of Humanix Staffing and Recruiting in Coeur d'Alene. "Across the board on the manufacturing side, clients are hiring."

Those "contingent," or temporary jobs, are frequently becoming permanent, she said.

"It surprises us a little sometimes, when you read the local and national news," Nelson said.

Small business job creation has not crossed the zero line in more than two years, Dunkelberg said.

"Government (including health care and education) and manufacturing (a large firm activity) are providing what few jobs are created," he said. "The number of owners with unfilled (hard to fill) openings fell two points to 9 percent of all firms, historically a weak showing."

Idaho outpaced the rest of the country in its unemployment rate in April, and May numbers are due next week.

Retail, food and accommodation were the top performers in Kootenai County, which matched the national average of 9.9 percent. That was an improvement from the 10.1 percent reported by the Idaho Department of Labor in March.

As is typical at this time of year as restaurants, bars and hotels gear up for summer traffic, hiring in the service industry is expected to be similar to recent years.

"One area that is still soft is support roles, such as administrative," Nelson said.

Administrative assistants and similar staff members are less in demand than some others. Direct producing positions, such as bookkeepers and others that produce revenue are more likely to be hired than executives, she said.

"They are still cautious in adding those positions back, across the board," Nelson said.

And while the number of job applicants is high, there has been about a 20 percent increase in placements in recent weeks compared to the same time last year.

With the pool of workers running deep, employers are taking more time in hiring those best suited for the positions available, Nelson said.

"I think the common saying on the street is if you put an ad in the paper, 100 people will respond," she said.

And while Nelson is confident things are picking back up, Dunkelberg warns there are still difficult times ahead for job hunters.

"Overall, the job creation picture is still bleak," Dunkelberg said. "Poor sales and uncertainty continue to hold back any commitments to growth, hiring or capital spending. Job creation plans have been running far below comparable quarters in the recovery from two other major recessions. The May figure is 1 percent; it's above the zero line but still weak."