NY Fed’s Employment Survey
Last week we brought you up to date on the New York Federal Reserve’s latest manufacturing survey, now let’s dive into the Fed’s supplemental report on workers and employment. When asked how their ability to retain employees had changed over the past year roughly 25% of firms in the manufacturing sector reported that it had gotten harder while just 1% said it had gotten easier. The responses were more negatively skewed than in June 2015, the last time these questions were asked. When asked about raising wages by more than usual in order to retain existing workers 55% of manufacturers said they were doing that for “some” job categories, while 20% said they were doing that for “most” of them. Roughly a third of manufacturers reported plans to increase employment in the year ahead, and 13% said they planned to reduce it. Nearly 80% reported having at least some difficulty finding qualified job candidates.
