Hiring Of Temporary Workers Surges

New York Times (Uchitelle) reports on its front page that "the hiring of temporary workers has surged, suggesting that the nation's employers might soon take the next step, bringing on permanent workers, if they can just convince themselves that the upturn in the economy will be sustained." In past recessions, employers "added temps for only two or three months before stepping up the hiring of permanent workers." However, this time employers have continued to hire temp workers for four months and despite growth in the economy, "corporate managers have been reluctant to shift to hiring permanent workers, relying instead on temps and other casual labor easily shed if demand slows again." The Obama administration and lawmakers are under pressure "to offset the shortfalls by authorizing more stimulus spending – enough to bring the national unemployment rate down from the present 10 percent" and additionally, "corporate America is investing very little in expansion." Hat Tip: NAM