Statement by Tig Gilliam, CEO of Adecco Group North America, on June's Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report

MELVILLE, N.Y., July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement by Tig Gilliam, CEO of Adecco Group North America (http://www.adeccousa.com/), on June's Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report which was released today at 8:30 AM ET.

Today's report stated the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.5% in June. This indicates that while employers continue to be cautious, they're still hiring as needed and are resisting widespread cuts to their workforce. Job losses were mainly in manufacturing, construction and employment services. Job gains continue in healthcare and grew in mining as well.

Gas and food prices as well as the mortgage and credit crises have all cast a shadow on the economy, but recent data has also shown some more positive signs. The revised GDP rate revealed stronger than expected growth for the first quarter and consumer spending in May rose by the highest amount since November, potentially as a result of the recent tax rebate checks.

Despite these punches to the state of our economy, job losses have remained below the 100,000 mark (-62,000 in non farm payroll employment in June) and employment is close to 95% for the country - much better facts and figures than have been seen during past economic recessions and by our global neighbors. For example, job losses peaked at around 300,000 per month during the 2001 recession and right now several other developed economies are experiencing unemployment in the 7-9% range.

And when you take a closer look at the jobs situation here in the U.S., more and more we see a tale of two labor markets. How you're impacted is largely based on where you live and what you do. For instance, if you're a teenager looking for a summer job you're facing an 18% unemployment market versus a far more encouraging 2.3% unemployment for college graduates. If you're in healthcare your industry added 13,000 jobs in June, but if you're in construction, the industry lost 43,000 jobs.

We're advising both our clients and candidates to invest in recession-proofing both their organizations and their careers. For employers, this means optimizing your workforce from using contingent workers to minimizing the cost of recruitment and workforce solutions through utilizing managed service solutions or recruitment process outsourcing to offering staff flexible work schedules to ease rising commuting costs.

For job seekers, it's about broadening your experiences and deepening your skills. It's about making sure that you're marketing your background to fit the individual and unique challenges of a potential employer and that you are flexible to shifting your career goals based on the labor market situation. We currently have thousands of jobs available right here at Adecco in a wide range of industries from accounting and IT to engineering and legal where everyday we're matching top talent with career opportunities in order to help people shape their careers, their teams and their companies, however they want or need to.

CONTACT: Jacqueline Chen Valencia, Vice President, Public Relations, +1-917-572-8666, jacqueline.chen@adeccona.com, or Anthony Guerrieri, Director, Public Relations, +1-917-434-4296, anthony.guerrieri@adeccona.com, both of Adecco Group North America

Web site: http://www.adeccousa.com/

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