Mass. Unemployment rate up to 5.5% in Oct – silver lining, net jobs created in technology

There is no doubt at all that the market is tanking, the stock market is now below 2003 levels and the psychological impact of the Big 3 Detroit Automakers going bankrupt (IMO a net positive so they can restructure their costs to the 21st centure) — it’s a avalanche of bad news. It just keeps coming as the Mass. unemployment rate is up to 5.5%, I suspect we’ll be around 6.3-6.5% by the time this recession is over. The good news? We’re still 1% below the national average, even CNN/Money had an article yesteday touting Mass. as the #1 Innovation economy, and technology companies actually had a net increase in jobs for Oct.  

The holidays are here, and job hunting is never easy around this time of the year — but, especially so for 2008. We are still setting up interviewing, but all recruiting is now very specific and all about the “perfect match” — of the people I’ve placed since the credit crisis started in Sept, all have been very specialized, and also learned to interview to the market.

Full text of the Boston.com article here:

Mass. unemployment rises to 5.5 percent

November 20, 2008 10:26 AMEmail| Comments (0)| Text size – +

The Bay State’s unemployment rate continued to march higher in October, but remained below the national average, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The agency said today that the state’s unemployment rate climbed to 5.5 percent in October, up from 5.3 percent the previous month and 4.3 percent rate a year ago. Nationally, the jobless rate leaped from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October.

The data were another sign of how hard the state’s economy has been hurt by the global financial crisis and national economic recession.

Overall, Massachusetts lost 7,000 jobs in October; that follows the loss of 3,100 jobs in September, based on a survey of more than 9,000 employers.

Some sectors were particularly hard hit:

* Construction. Lost 2,300 jobs as many projects were put on hold because of the credit crisis.

* Manufacturing. Lost 900 jobs with declines in both durable and non-durable goods. Manufacturing in the state hit a new low of 289,600 jobs.

* Education and health services. Lost 900 jobs as educational companies did not hire as much as usual in the fall.

* Trade, transportation, and utilities. Shed 2,700 jobs, due primarily to losses in transportation, warehousing, retail trade, and wholesale trade – all of which have been hard hit by slower consumer spending.

* Leisure and hospitality. Lost 1,600 jobs, split among arts, entertainment/recreation and accommodation, and food services.

By contrast, jobs increased in professional sectors by 1,100 jobs in October as companies relied more on temporary workers. The financial services sector lost 200 jobs, as a steep decline in real estate was off-set by gains in finance and insurance. The information sector gained 200 jobs. 
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

More MA tech layoffs – Egenera, Livewire, Helixe – others still hiring

So still a “Tale of Two techs” out there — lots of FUD in some quarters, others just being aggressive and “ahead of the curve” for cutting burn, and others, aggressively picking up the cast-offs of places like Egenera (laying off 30-35 here in Mass), Livewire (acquired Groovemobile), and Helixe a Burlington, Mass, Nintendo game company.

On the positive side — today’s a historic election and credit markets are thawing out rapidly for many of the emerging/venture capitalized startups we deal with.

Recruiting is definitely down a bit, but not “off a cliff” as others are seeing – why? Reputation, and a focus on matching high quality candidates and clients together.