Category: News

March 2, 2017

Fed: Economic Growth Continues at Start of 2017; Brisk Business for Staffing Firms

Fed: Economic Growth Continues at Start of 2017; Brisk Business for Staffing Firms

Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve districts indicated that the economy expanded at a modest to moderate pace from early January through mid-February, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s latest report on regional economies (known as the “beige book”). Manufacturing activity accelerated somewhat, with most districts characterizing the pace of growth as moderate. Employment grewRead More

February 16, 2017

Attracting, Retaining Talent Is No. 1 Concern in ‘Future of Work’ Survey

Attracting, Retaining Talent Is No. 1 Concern in ‘Future of Work’ Survey

Feb 14, 2017Laura Putre | IndustryWeek Talent management is the most pressing issue for human resources leaders at some of the largest U.S. companies, a new survey finds. A survey by the law firm Seyfarth Shaw of 717 in-house legal and business leaders between December 2016 and January 2017--in a cross section of industries including manufacturing—mentioned the “war forRead More
US Factory Output Rose In January For Second Straight Month

US Factory Output Rose In January For Second Straight Month

by Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer   WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturers cranked out more steel, machinery and electronics last month as factories appear to be rebounding after two years of stagnation. Factory output rose 0.2 percent in January, its second straight increase, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday . While modest, the gain isRead More

February 9, 2017

Small Business Optimism Index Surges by Most Since 1980

Small Business Optimism Index Surges by Most Since 1980

Jan 10, 2017Bloomberg Optimism among America’s small businesses soared in December by the most since 1980 as expectations about the economy’s prospects improved dramatically in the aftermath of the presidential election. The National Federation of Independent Business’s index jumped 7.4 points last month to 105.8, the highest since the end of 2004, from 98.4. WhileRead More
Oil Industry Starts Revival as Project Approvals to Double

Oil Industry Starts Revival as Project Approvals to Double

The oil industry will shake off the effects of the biggest downturn in a generation this year as they more than double project approvals and increase exploration spending for the first time in three years, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Companies will green-light more than 20 oil and gas fields for development compared with nineRead More

January 6, 2017

Free Market for Education? Economists Generally Don’t Buy I

Free Market for Education? Economists Generally Don’t Buy I

The odds are good that privatizing education will be part of the agenda for President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration. The Republican platform calls for increasing the role of banks in giving out student loans. And Mr. Trump and the platform advocate an expansion of both vouchers, which enable students to attend the private school ofRead More
The Complex Mess of Health Insurance

The Complex Mess of Health Insurance

The Kaiser Family Foundation is one of the best sources of information on health care, and it recently convened some focus groups in the Midwest and Pennsylvania. These groups included people who received health insurance through an Obamacare exchange and who also voted for Donald Trump. You can read about the results in an Op-EdRead More
Will value-based payment initiatives continue under Trump?

Will value-based payment initiatives continue under Trump?

By Elizabeth Whitman  | November 11, 2016 President-elect Donald Trump's promise to dismantle the Affordable Care Act is unlikely to also undo widespread efforts to nudge the U.S. healthcare system toward value-based payment, including experiments devised by the ACA-funded Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation. “The concept of value in healthcare has been around a longRead More
Tackling The Gender Diversity Gap — Recommendations For Employers To Attract Women In STEM

Tackling The Gender Diversity Gap — Recommendations For Employers To Attract Women In STEM

For many of the employers we work with, gender diversity is a high priority on the corporate agenda — especially women in STEM roles. Employers are often tasked with achieving diversity targets, but are faced with high competition for the same talent and few ideas of where to begin to achieve this. It’s unrealistic to pretendRead More
CEO CONFIDENCE AT SIX-YEAR HIGH

CEO CONFIDENCE AT SIX-YEAR HIGH

CEO confidence rose sharply in the fourth quarter after a slight retreat in the prior quarter, according to The Conference Board’s measure of CEO confidence. In the fourth quarter, the measure jumped to a level of 65, up from 50 in the third quarter of 2016. A reading of more than 50 reflects more positiveRead More