December 2019 Economic Report

The December 2019 Economic Report below was created just for you, employers. It is fueled by information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Yahoo Finance, and FedPrimeRate.com so that you can make better hiring decisions. Below the report, check out the Amtec Tip of the Month about compensation trends for 2020.

Amtec Tip of the Month

If you’re an employer who manages and hires employees, you may be wondering about compensation trends for 2020. SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) has come up with five compensation trends for 2020 that reflect issues of concern in the workplace. Here’s a summary of them:

• Pay equity
• Variable pay to reward merit
• Transparency on pay
• Frequent performance rewards
• Individual state policies

Find more information on compensations trends for 2020 here.

Summary

If you’re unable to view the December 2019 Economic Report, here’s a summary:

• The unemployment rate remained at 3.5%, and the number of unemployed persons was unchanged at 5.8 million. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 3.9%, and the number of unemployed persons was 6.3 million.

• Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 145,000. In 2019, payroll employment rose by 2.1 million, down from a gain of 2.7 million in 2018.

• Retail Trade added 41,000 jobs.
  • 9,000 jobs added in 2019
  • 14,000 jobs added in 2018

• Leisure and Hospitality added 40,000 jobs.
  • 388,000 jobs added in 2019
  • 359,000 jobs added in 2018

• Health Care added 28,000 jobs.
  • 399,000 jobs added in 2019
  • 350,000 jobs added in 2018

• Construction added 20,000 jobs.
  • 151,000 jobs added in 2019
  • 307,000 jobs added in 2018

• Professional and Business Services added 10,000 jobs.
  • 397,000 jobs added in 2019
  • 561,000 jobs added in 2018

• Manufacturing lost 12,000 jobs.
  • 46,000 jobs added in 2019
  • 264,000 jobs added in 2018

• Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents to $28.32. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 2.9%.

• U.S. job openings rose to a rate of 4.6% in October to 7,267,000 openings.

• Dow Jones rose by 1.5% during the month of December.

• Housing starts rose by 3.2% to 1.37 million in November.

• Consumer price index lowered to 0.3% in November.

• Federal prime rate remained at 4.75% in December.

• Retail inventories increased by 0.3% in October to $668.5 billion.

• Manufacturing hours worked per week remained at an average of 40.5 hours.

• Manufacturing new orders decreased by 0.73% from $497 billion in October to $493 billion in November.