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CRA Blog
Monday, May 10, 2010 - Job Market Update
April saw the best job growth in several years. 290K new jobs were created!
March was also revised up, continuing the positive trend we'd been expecting for some time. The unemployment
rate went up to 9.9%, but to some extent that can be explained by an increased number of people beginning
to look for work again (after having been discouraged for a long time), so although we are not discounting
it, we're not dwelling on it either.
Of course the above numbers are National and encompass all industries, so it does not necessarily translate
directly to NYC and the Graphic Design area. Locally we've seen some improvement in full time positions
and we expect that positive trend to continue. But overall the market is still pretty challenging, at least
for now. Most of the improvement appears to be in the freelance area, indicating employers are still hesitant to hire.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - Changes at CRA!
There've been a few changes at CRA in the last month, so we haven't updated the blog for a while. Our
apologies!
The first change came in late March, when we decided to close our Temp Staffing Division. Going forward, we
will focus only on full time placements! We look forward to being able to spend more time on finding the
best possible matches for our clients and candidates in staff positions.
The second change came in early April, when we moved to 33 West 19th street, 4th floor, New York, NY 10011. We
loved the Meatpacking District, but change is good! As you can imagine, the move was quite hectic, but now
we're all settled in and ready to go. See you there!
Friday, March 5, 2010 - Job Market Update
After one of the snowiest months in 114 years in NYC, Spring is almost upon us and we can't wait. In fact, the mere
thought of warmer temps and sunshine almost stopped us from doing a job market update! We did not want to lose the
positive mood we were in today :)
But the numbers released by the Labor Department this morning are actually not THAT bad, so let's get it over with:
February lost 36K jobs and the unemployment rate stayed at 9.7%. The revision for December showed fewer job losses than
earlier reported and January remained essentially unchanged (see chart at bottom). So although we would have liked
to see a positive number for February, the general trend is still our friend.
Freelance remains the bright spot, both in the BLS report and our own experience. Freelance hiring started to improve
in September of last year and remains on the upswing. Right now, the financial industry is particularly active, and if you're a
production artist with experience in this area and solid skills with InDesign, Illustrator, Charts and Graphs, do not
hesitate to send us your resume!
Overall, we remain fairly positive on the job market. We've always expected improvement to be gradual, and although
at this point it's a little more gradual than we'd like, as long as the positive trend remains in play, we'll give it leeway.
Happy early Spring, everyone!
Webcam Interviews!
The in-person interview has always been a staple at CRA. For us as recruiters, it's the best way to evaluate not just a
candidate's talent and skills, but also their personality - a key ingredient in finding them the right
fit. For you as a candidate, it's a wonderful opportunity to set up a long-term relationship with a recruiter (a great
professional networking contact, since their goal in life is finding you a position :) and get valuable feedback on
your resume and portfolio.
We occasionally do phone interviews for candidates who do not live in the immediate NYC area, a practice that
has been made easier in the last few years with the proliferation of online portfolios. But although phone
interviews are an excellent first-level screening tool and can work fine in some cases, they're no subsitute
for a face-to-face.
Enter the Webcam! Starting today, for anyone who lives outside NYC or has difficulty coming in, we'll
be able to offer webcam/Skype interviews. Right now, it's just Skype, since it's the oldest and most well-known
service available and it's free. We may add other services later.
Candidates who have already interviewed with a recruiter in the past but would like to get reacquainted,
can also take advantage. Just email your recruiter and request an Update Webcam Interview.
Nothing beats an in-person interview and if you want feedback on a physical portfolio, coming into
our office is still the best way. But webcam technology has improved considerably over
the last few years and now provides a good possible alternative. We look forward to seeing you, be it
right here in person or via the web!
__________________
Job numbers for each month are listed below for the current year, showing the number initially
reported (original), then the first Revision, followed by the Final number for that month. If you are interested in the
history of job growth to get a feel for the trend, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics
chart here. Please note that the chart is often temporarily not available
around the first Friday of every month, when job numbers are reported.
_________________________________________________
| Month 2010 | Original | Revised | Final |
| April | 290K | | |
| March | 162K | 230k | |
| February | -36K | -14K | 39K |
| January | -20K | -26K | 14K |
_________________________________________________
| Month 2009 | Original | Revised | Final |
| December | -85K | -150K | -109K |
| November | -11K | 4K | 64K |
| October | -190K | -111K | -127K |
| September | -263K | -216K | -139K |
| August | -216K | -201K | -154K |
| July | -247K | -276K | -304K |
| June | -467K | -443K | -463K |
| May | -345K | -322K | -303K |
| April | -539K | -504K | -592K |
| March | -663K | -699K | -652K |
| February | -651K | -651K | -681K |
| January | -598K | -655K | -741K |
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