Job Expert Jeff Christian Comments on Anticipated Job Report Numbers

CLEVELAND, March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- According to job expert Jeff Christian, founder of executive search firm CTPartners and CEO of Revenue Beast, a revenue acceleration company, "If tomorrow's unemployment report goes as expected, meaning fractionally up or down, it is not a leading indicator of a labor market trend."

Are we at the beginning of a recession-ending job market or are we stuck going nowhere or even down?  "It's way too early for us to have any definitive idea as to where the labor market is going as a whole," remarks Christian.

Initial Labor Department reports for the week ending February 26 indicate that there was a decline in jobless claims by 20,000 to 368,000.  If accurate, it is the fewest claims since October, 2008.  Also, the 4-week average from January to February saw initial claims fall by 43,000 and continuing claims by 89,667.

"So far, so good," states Christian.  "This could mean good news, but does not guarantee good news."

Christian points to the fact that there are some conflicting reports.  For example, Challenger, Gray & Christmas' study indicates that planned job cuts rose to 50,702 in February.  This is a big jump and the most since March, 2010.

Christian continued, "Even if tomorrow's report confirms the best result in 3 years, it is not an indication that the job market is improving.  It could be a blip."

He noted that there are many more factors to consider.  The biggest of which is the unknown number of state-employee layoffs.

"Furthermore, I have seen companies that have maintained hiring freezes for extended periods of time remove the hiring freeze and hire too many people.  Only to make layoffs once again," he said.

Christian predicts that it will be a long time before we see a big increase in the high paying jobs that have made such significant impact in pulling us out of previous recessions.  "Today, for example, when automakers begin to hire, compensation for the same executive and line jobs will be lower."

"Also, we will not see recent graduates who so desperately need jobs getting hired very quickly.  There are still plenty of experienced workers from past layoffs who are more preferable hires," notes Christian.

"At Revenue Beast, our talent grab revenue accelerator is certainly seeing an increase in the demand for select executives again; however they are in industries with very specific skills and tend to be for those people who are already employed.  Companies are looking to steal someone from their competitors," concludes Christian.

About Jeff Christian:

Jeff Christian is the founder of executive search firm CTPartners, The Number 12 Foundation, and Revenue Beast.

About Revenue Beast:

Revenue Beast is the only company that has one single mission:  finding ways to increase client revenue.  For more information go to www.RevenueBeast.com.

SOURCE Jeff Christian