Employers competed to recruit top talent and hired more employees last month according to April jobs report. In this week’s RPOA Weekly we present a roundup of reports and analysis of the current job market to give you an understanding of the recruiting and hiring environment employers currently work with.  

The March jobs report is out, giving a snapshot of the state of employment in the United States. This episode of the RPOA Weekly presents articles from the New York Times, Forbes, Bloomberg and MarketWatch covering what the numbers mean for the economy, the Fed, and employers.

The nearly-full employment rate of the U.S. economy, presents a tough challenge for employers looking for candidates in general, but particularly those who are looking for in-demand talent. Unemployment rate has fallen steadily in the past few years – in fact, in December 2016, the U.S. labor market experienced its 75^th consecutive month of job growth, and the unemployment rate was at pre-recession levels of 4.7%.

How do you compete for top talent in an economy where candidates are in the driver seat? In this week’s #AskAnRPOExpert, we’re continuing our discussion with Newton Talent’s, Patty Silbert on how HR can best adapt to the present job market from a talent acquisition point of view.

Related: Adapting Your HR Strategy to A Changing Job Market with Patty Silbert

According to CNN Money and the U.S. December Jobs Report, December, 2016 marked the 75th consecutive month of job gains, the longest streak on record. With the jobs market running hot, many companies are struggling to fill certain positions amidst the challenges of shrinking qualified candidate pools, rapidly evolving technology and shift in candidate selectivity.

The U.S. job market closed the year strong but future expectations are unclear. December Job Report confirmed a continuing positive trend: the U.S. labor market experienced 75th consecutive months of job gains, the best on record, and the year 2016 ended with over 2 million new jobs. In this week’s RPOA weekly, we share a few reviews and analysis on December job report and what it means for the U.S. labor market and the economy.

Candidates, rejoice – currently, there are an estimated 6 million jobs available in the United States. This number is only expected to grow, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting that 20.5 million jobs will be added to the economy between 2010 and 2020, with an additional 33.7 million job openings becoming available as employees permanently leave the worker pool. 

This week we continue our coverage of the U.S. job market conditions and projects to keep you informed on your recruiting and hiring environment going into 2017. This RPOA Weekly introduces a roundup of articles from leading sources on the economy including U.S. News, Bloomberg and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

In our recent conversations with recruitment process outsourcing experts, we established a clear understanding of the conditions of the current labor market. In this edition of #AskAnRPOExpert  we followed up with Personify's Ryan Carfley, President and CEO, and Allen Wooten, Solutions Architect and Business Development Manager (RPO) to learn how companies are changing their HR strategy to deal with the high demands of the current job market.

Job openings are on the rise across the board; however, figures vary by industries and regions. Within the industries, the largest increases in average annual job openings levels between 2014 and 2015 were in real estate and rental and leasing (37.8 %); health care and social assistance (25.5 %); professional and business services (24.6 %); according to a Monthly Labor Review by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Increases were similar in all four census regions, ranging from 15.6 percent in the South to 17.2 percent in the Midwest. What challenges or opportunities does this competitive environment create when acquiring talent for an organization?