ACE

ACE Report: NEO goods-producing sector takes biggest jobs hit in June

Posted on by katiecmorgan

The regional employment roller coaster continued in June with Northeast Ohio losing 5,518 jobs from the May total, as total private sector employment dropped to a projected 1,167,386 — a 0.47% loss. Looking year-to-year, past the monthly fluctuations, the job loss in the seven-county metropolitan area since June 2016 is 0.02%, or 290 jobs, according to the Ahola Crain’s Employment, or ACE, Report.

The June job loss was heaviest in the goods-producing section, which includes manufacturing and construction — 3,380 jobs lost between May and June versus 2,138 jobs lost in the larger service sector, which accounts for 82% of the private sector jobs tracked in the ACE survey.

Year over year, the goods sector lost 4,912 jobs versus a gain of 4,621 jobs in services.

Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE Report model, said the losses are not a serious concern.

“Too much should not be made out of June’s decline,” he said. “It does not point to any major concerns for regional growth. The national and regional economies continue to wander forward at a moderate pace.”

Kleinhenz attributed part of the decline to the auto industry, a large employer in the region, and the summer shutdowns of auto plants.

The July 12 Beige Book, the Federal Reserve Bank’s report on the economy, noted that payrolls in the Fourth District, which includes all of Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia, continued to expand since the last Beige Book report released May 31, although at a slightly slower pace.

Longer term and nationally, Kleinhenz noted that the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported the manufacturing sector nationally grew in June and the overall economy grew for the 97th consecutive month. The ISM manufacturing employment index showed a 3.7% increase over May.

“The labor market remains very healthy and continues to show the confidence in workers willing to leave one job for another,” Kleinhenz said.

Closer to home, the recent Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, in its “2024 Job Outlook,” is projecting that employment in the region will grow by 74,700 jobs to 1,475,300 by 2024. That’s a 5.3% increase over the 1,400,600 employed in the 2014 base year. The projected growth will come despite a loss of 7,200 manufacturing jobs.

The growth sectors include health care (27,400 jobs), food preparation and serving (7,100) and transportation and material handling (5,000). Many of the jobs that are expected to grow the fastest were in low-paying occupations such as home health aide and restaurant cooks. The report also projected significant demand for registered nurses and computer systems analysts.

Seasonally Adjusted Data

Month Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Dec 2016 Actual 1,169,560   476,230  693,330 210,690 958,870
Jan (est) 1,175,104   478,434  696,670 212,456 962,648
Feb (est) 1,177,120   479,248  697,872 212,924 964,196
March (est) 1,175,534   478,604  696,930 212,610 962,924
Apr (est) 1,176,482   479,069  697,413 211,641 964,841
May (est) 1,172,905   477,697  695,208 209,786 963,119
June (est) 1,167,386   475,617  691,770 206,406 960,980

July 21, 2017

By  

ACE Report: ‘Tightening’ NEO job market loses 2,505 jobs last month

Posted on by katiecmorgan

The Cleveland-Akron area lost 2,505 jobs last month, a 0.21% decline from April, according to the Ahola Crain’s Employment Report, or ACE Report.

The report estimates that the seven-county Northeast Ohio region employed 1,174,540 people in May, down from 1,177,045 in April.

The report is based on payroll data from 3,000 employers, gathered by The Ahola Corp., a Brecksville payroll and human services firm.

Cleveland Heights economist Jack Kleinhenz, who developed the ACE Report economic model, said the decline in the May seven-county employment estimate, “while perhaps a bit discouraging, can be an indication that labor markets are tightening.”

He cited a National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) jobs report from May that found business owners are upbeat about sales and are looking to add staff, but that firms say it’s hard to find qualified workers.

Kleinhenz said two factors are key to the shrinking labor pool.

Northeast Ohio’s unemployment rate fell to 5.1% in April from 6.2% in March, according to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. That translates into a decline in the jobless of 14,200 people, from 85,900 to 71,700. At the same time, baby boomers are retiring.

To Kleinhenz that suggests that “there are not enough people out of work to go back to work.”

Also, Kleinhenz sees a longer-term upward trend, with regional employment growing by 2,647 in the 12-month period ending in May, though that gain was accomplished by five up months overcoming seven months of job declines. By comparison, national employment has registered 80 straight months of increase.

The greatest loss in jobs came in the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction, a loss of 1,655 jobs versus the loss of 850 service sector jobs. That correlates, Kleinhenz said, to recent U.S. Census figures showing that factory orders declined 0.2% in May.

Manufacturing production was down 0.4%, Kleinhenz said, including a 2% decline in motor vehicle output.

“I continue to expect a pickup in the pace of economic activity in the second quarter and modest growth for the remainder of 2017,” Kleinhenz said. “The second-quarter 2017 National Association for Business Economics outlook median forecast calls for average annual GDP growth of 2.2% for 2017 as a whole.”

Seasonally adjusted data

Month Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Dec 2016 1,169,560   476,230   693,330   210,690 958,870
January 1,173,253   477,635   695,618   212,773 960,480
February 1,175,747   478,633   697,113   213,467 962,280
March 1,175,054   478,338   696,715   213,524 961,530
April 1,177,045   479,227   697,818   212,773 964,273
May 1,174,540   478,291   963,423   963,423 963,423
 June 16, 2017

ACE Report: March jobs are down, but year-over-year stats are up

Posted on by katiecmorgan

The Cleveland-Akron metropolitan area lost 798 jobs between February and March of this year, but that slight dip means little to the long-term outlook since the region gained 708 jobs between March 2016 and March 2017 with employment in March at 1,175,598 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

“We are still holding our own relative to last year, but at a slower pace currently,” wrote Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE Report model, in his analysis. “The economy is attempting to turn the corner toward a bit faster growth, but the momentum has been slower than expected. The unexpected backsliding in March car sales and February’s flat consumer spending confirm a sluggish start to the spring selling season.”

Kleinhenz wrote that policy uncertainties due to the wrangling of issues by the Trump administration and Congress — in particular the size, composition and the timing of any tax cut and infrastructure spending package — are complicating the outlook.

Kleinhenz added that a conundrum within the labor market is a resistance to wage growth in the face of growing job openings and a shortage of qualified workers for skilled positions.

“Until wage gains accelerate, overall economic spending is expected to continue on a moderate path,” he wrote.

In its annual Labor Day report last year, Policy Matters Ohio, the labor-backed Cleveland think tank, focused on those wages. It argued that while pay in Ohio has been growing — to $16.61 an hour for the median worker — it remains far behind what the median wage was in 1979 when adjusted for inflation.

“Wages are behind in large part because our fastest-growing sectors and our most common jobs are low wage,” the report, “Still Struggling: The State of Working Ohio 2016,” said. “Of our 13 most common occupations, only two pay more than 200% of the official poverty line for a family of three.”

The state lost 75,000 relatively well-paying manufacturing jobs between December 2007 and June 2016, Policy Matters reported, while gaining 176,700 lower-paying jobs in education and the health services and the leisure and hospitality industries.

A pair of economic analysts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland see wage growth a little differently.

In an “Economic Commentary” released in March, Roberto Pinheiro and Meifeng Yang contend that wage growth nationally has been sluggish since the Great Recession due mostly to weak growth in labor productivity and lower-than-expected inflation. But they argue that “wage growth since late 2014 has actually been above what would be consistent with realized labor productivity growth and inflation, and this trend in wages reflects an increase in labor’s share of income.”

This, they write, shows “evidence that this increase in the labor share may be due to a reversal of the trend to replace labor with capital.”

 

Seasonally adjusted employment

Month Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Sept 2016 (act) 1,175,448   478,642 696,805 211,538 963,910
Oct (est) 1,163,140   473,584 689,555 209,986 953,154
Nov (est) 1,165,227   474,391 690,837 210,986 954,241
Dec (est) 1,164,811   474,220 690,591 210,926 953,885
Jan (est) 1,174,442   478,124 696,318 212,913 961,530
Feb (est) 1,176,396   478,901 697,495 213,530 962,866
Mar(est) 1,175,598   478,561 697,037 213,607 961,990

 

April 21, 2017
By JAY MILLER

ACE Report: Economy is ‘inching forward’ this year

Posted on by katiecmorgan

The seven counties of Northeast Ohio added 943 jobs in February, a modest number, but the second straight month of job increases, according to the Ahola Crain’s Employment (ACE) Report.

Year-over-year, payrolls were up by 5,422 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, a 0.46% increase.

February payrolls for the Cleveland Akron Metropolitan Area equaled 1,180,415 on a seasonally adjusted basis. Between February 2016 and February 2017, most of the increase in jobs came from the service section, 5,137 jobs, while the goods-producing sector showed a gain of 285 jobs.

“Recent economic data releases are very encouraging about the near-term outlook for the U.S. economy, and (we) should in turn have a similar expectation for economic activity in Northeast Ohio,” said Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE model.

“The data in many cases continues on a roller coaster pattern, which makes the strength of the momentum hard to detect,” Kleinhenz said. “Nonetheless, (the data) include the NFIB’s small business optimism index that remains elevated; housing starts increased in February; the job opening and labor turnover survey was unchanged but positive; February’s retail sales were tepid; business inventories increased; and industrial production was unchanged after dipping in January.”

That forecast agrees with a recently released estimate from economists at Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Service Group, which described the Northeast Ohio economy as “inching forward” during the first quarter of 2017.

“The region’s economic growth is hamstrung, however, by a manufacturing industry that is struggling on multiple fronts,” the report stated. “Steel production and employment in 2016 had been hit hard by cheap imports and the collapse in energy prices that reduced investment in oil and gas wells.”

The PNC economists did see hopeful signs — the oil and gas rig count began to edge up in the last half of 2016, high steel tariffs are expected to help domestic producers, and the auto industry is coming off a record year — at least in the short term.

“Longer term, continued population loss will cause Northeast Ohio to be a below-average performer in terms of job growth,” the report stated before ending on a more optimistic note.

“Though still only in their early development stages, manufacturing hubs for the machinery of new energy technologies and transportation equipment hold great promise for those regions that can attract and cultivate them,” according to the report. “The (Northeast Ohio) region’s lower costs and availability of underutilized assets will be an important tool in attracting new industries and opportunities into the region in the years ahead.”

Seaonally adjusted data

Month Non-Farm  Small  (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Sept 2016 (act) 1,175,448  478,642   696,805   211,538 963,910
Oct (est) 1,173,393  477,608   695,784   213,994 959,399
Nov (est) 1,174,298  477,939   696,359   214,709 959,589
Dec (est) 1,172,037  476,994   695,043   214,643 957,394
Jan (est) 1,179,472  480,031   699,441   215,846 963,626
Feb (est) 1,180,415  480,404   700,011   216,172 964,243
 By  March 24, 2017

ACE Report: NE Ohio job-creation engine sputtered at the end of 2016

Posted on by katiecmorgan

by SCOTT SUTTELL
The end of 2016 was not kind to Northeast Ohio’s job market, according to the latest Ahola Crain’s Employment (ACE) Report.

Seasonally adjusted employment in December for the seven-county area of Cleveland and Akron measured by the report was 1,170,985, a decline of 1,879 jobs from 1,172,864 in November. And November was no great shakes, either; its total job number was just 286 higher than the October figure calculated in the ACE Report.

Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE Report model, noted in an analysis of the December data that the seasonally adjusted jobs figure for last month “is below its three-month and six-month average and suggests economic activity and job growth has lost some momentum from the faster pace that was evident in prior months.”
But it’s impossible to draw firm conclusions from one subpar month in one statistical category.

Kleinhenz wrote in his analysis, “We are not sure that the regional economy has made a fundamental change, nor has the national economy, since employment is only one gauge that measures economic activity.” He noted, for instance, that a gauge of economic activity created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia rose in Ohio by 2.2% on a year-over-year basis, and recent construction and retail sales data “also show gains.”

Kleinhenz added that “choppy employment” around the end of a calendar year “is not unusual given shifting seasonal hiring patterns. It is typical for the trajectory of monthly employment to be pared significantly back. We expect a similar pattern to take place and recognize that some dampening of the pace of employment gains is projected.”

Kleinhenz wrote in his analysis that regional initial unemployment claims, a factor in the ACE Report model, had been at “historically low levels” but then “kicked up in the middle of December.” Such claims “are usually variable around the holidays because of winter weather, school closures and shifting seasonal hiring patterns,” according to Kleinhenz.

Meanwhile, he wrote, January employment “looks to be a better month based upon a reduction in initial unemployment claims.” Also, he noted that “most measures” of consumer and business sentiment “have shown notable improvement since the November election, raising expectation that economic activity will accelerate at the national and regional levels.”

The national economy “is expected to gain further traction in 2017,” according to Kleinhenz. “Regional growth during 2016 might have been stronger had it not been for weakness in metals production and the energy industry. In addition, the weak global economy and a strong dollar hurt export related firms output and associated employment.”

Despite these developments, he wrote, “the regional outlook (is) promising as national indexes tracking production and new orders in the most recent ISM (Institute for Supply Management) survey rose to levels posted in late-2014.”

Month Non-Farm Small(1-49) Mid-Sized Goods Service
(50+) Producing Producing
June 2016 (act) 1,167,272 475,237 692,035 211,159 956,113
July (est) 1,175,080 478,077 697,003 217,432 957,648
Aug (est) 1,171,211 476,665 694,546 214,391 956,821
Sept (est) 1,169,702 476,139 693,563 212,852 956,851
Oct (est) 1,172,614 477,287 695,327 213,914 958,700
Nov (est) 1,172,864 477,358 695,506 214,400 958,463
Dec (est) 1,170,985 476,588 694,397 214,137 956,848

Recent Month’s Estimated Change
Nov ’16 to Dec ’16 (1,879) (770.15) (1,108) (264) (1,615)
Diff from Dec 2015 1,757 883 874 (2,085) 3,842

Trend
3-month 1,172,154 477,078 695,077 214,150 958,004
6-month 1,172,076 477,019 695,057 214,521 957,555

ACE Report: Service sector sparks October jobs gain

Posted on by katiecmorgan

The region reversed two months of job declines in October, adding 2,498 jobs, according to the Ahola Crain’s Employment (ACE) Report.

Seasonally adjusted, the region saw employment rise to 1,171,849 from 1,169,351 a month earlier, a 0.2% increase.

While the service-producing sector shows a year-over-year gain of 5,407 jobs, the goods-producing sector declined by 2,181 jobs. Smoothing out the month-to-month figures, on a year-over-year basis, the seven-county workforce increased 3,226 jobs, a gain of 0.3%, since October 2015.

The regional decline in the goods-producing sector echoes the national pattern. The United States lost 9,000 manufacturing jobs in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Service employment has been growing, but manufacturing payrolls are either sluggish or declining,” reported Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE model. “The factory sector continues to face stiff headwinds, including weak global demand due to sluggish growth abroad, a strong dollar and low commodity prices.

Longer term, employment in the goods-producing sector peaked in July 1979 at 25,163,000. Since then, sector employment has declined by 5,548,000 — or 22% — to its current level of 19,615,000. Those jobs have been lost largely to automation and shop-floor tracking systems that increase efficiency and, to a lesser degree, to globalization.

A bright spot at the national level, Kleinhenz said, is the 0.4% gain in average hourly earnings, up 2.8% over the past year.

Economists at Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group called that growth in average hourly earnings the fastest increase in seven years.

“As the job market gets tighter, firms are responding to tougher competition for workers by raising pay,” the financial services firm said in its Nov. 4 economic report. “This is very good news for incomes and consumer spending.”

The Federal Reserve Board’s most recent Beige Book, which gathers anecdotal information on each region of the country, said of the Cleveland region, “Wage pressures were most evident in the construction and retail sectors across skill levels. Reports from staffing firms about job openings and placements were mixed, though all contacts noted an increase in the number of temporary positions.”

Seaonally adjusted data

Custom-Chart-1
Month Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Mar-16(actual) 1,175,919   478,541   697,378 215,829 960,090
April (est) 1,169,858   476,032   693,826 215,323 954,536
May (est) 1,174,111   477,748   696,363 216,312 957,799
Jun (est) 1,172,025   476,883   695,141 216,156 955,869
Jul (est) 1,175,213   478,117   697,096 217,662 957,551
Aug (est) 1,171,067   476,593   694,474 214,553 956,515
Sept (est) 1,169,351   475,985   693,367 212,954 956,398
Oct (est) 1,171,849   476,981   694,868 213,697 958,152

ACE Report: Jobs drop in September, but outlook is optimistic

Posted on by katiecmorgan
The end of summer and the start of fall have not been kind to the Northeast Ohio employment market.

For the second straight month, Northeast Ohio registered a decline in the size of its payrolls, as calculated in the Ahola Crain’s Employment (ACE) Report.

In September, seasonally adjusted employment decreased by 1,657 jobs, to 1,172,402 last month from 1,174,059 in August, according to the ACE Report data. That followed a decrease of more than 3,600 jobs from July to August.

Both goods-producing and service-producing companies in Northeast Ohio shed jobs in September, the ACE Report found. Payrolls related to goods production fell by 1,539, and service-related regional payrolls fell 118.

September’s payroll number of 1,172,402 was below the region’s three-month (1,174,728) and six-month (1,174,286) averages, according to the ACE Report data.

However, Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE Report model, noted that employment in Northeast Ohio “continues to remain in positive territory for the year, as there were 6,012 more jobs in the seven-county Cleveland/Akron region than the (like) month a year ago.”

Kleinhenz said in an analysis of the most recent data that there are “a lot of moving parts impacting Northeast Ohio economic activity, including seasonal forces in August and September, thus making it difficult to infer that slower growth is ahead.”

He noted that while employment measures “are important, they leave out other key information (that is) included in other economic series.”

For instance, Kleinhenz said he keeps a close eye on a “coincident economic index” produced for each state by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The index includes four factors: employment; average hours worked in manufacturing by production workers; the unemployment rate; and wage and salaries incorporating employment.

In August, he said, the coincident index for Ohio increased 0.3%, and it has risen by 3.4% over the past 12 months. These “are favorable figures when compared to the nation’s 0.24% and 3%, respectively,” Kleinhenz said.

He also found reason for optimism in the results of the Institute for Supply Management’s nonmanufacturing index. That index “rebounded strongly in September to 57.1 from 51.4 in August, well above market expectations and its highest reading since October 2015,” Kleinhenz said.

Meanwhile, he said, the ISM manufacturing index rose to 51.5 from 49.4, which “suggests a modest pickup in business activity in September.”

Kleinhenz concluded, “The improvement as measured by these indexes, though a bit uneven, holds out hope that a pickup in economic activity is underway for the remainder of 2017 and should provide the basis for future payroll gains for the Northeast Ohio region.”

Custom-Chart-1

Seaonally adjusted data

Month Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Mar-16(actual) 1,175,919   478,541   697,378 215,829 960,090
April (est) 1,171,228   476,564   694,664 215,938 955,290
May (est) 1,175,950   478,462   697,489 217,154 958,796
Jun (est) 1,174,351   477,788   696,562 217,180 957,170
Jul (est) 1,177,724   479,087   698,637 218,863 958,861
Aug (est) 1,174,059   477,748   696,311 216,000 958,059
Sept (est) 1,172,402   477,160   695,242 214,460 957,941

Recent Month’s Estimated Change

Date Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Aug ’16 to Sept ’16 (1,657)   (588)   (1,069) (1,539) (118)
Diff from Sept 2015 6,012   2,592   3,420 (980) 6,992

Trend

Date Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
3-month 1,174,728   477,998   696,730 216,441 958,287
6-month 1,174,286   477,802   696,484 216,599 957,686

ACE Report: Region’s jobs drop in August, but increase year-over-year

Posted on by katiecmorgan

The monthly tally of Northeast Ohio private payrolls in August continued on its roller coaster of up one month and down the next, with the Ahola Crain’s Employment (ACE) Report showing a decrease of 3,626 jobs from July, a 0.31% decline.

Longer term, though, employment in the seven-county Akron-Cleveland metro area was 8,340 jobs higher in August than a year ago, a 0.71% increase.

“The economy is in its eighth year of economic recovery and still remains in its expansion phase of a payroll cycle,” reported Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE model. “It has been on a slow path of economic growth, but the labor market continues to maintain momentum.”

Statewide, nonagricultural wage and salary employment grew by 77,000 jobs year-over-year, a 1.35% increase, based on a survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released last Tuesday, Sept. 20 by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.

Employment in all 88 Ohio counties decreased by 2,000 positions, from 5,505,400 in July to 5,503,400 in August.

Analyzing the state data, the nonprofit Policy Matters Ohio think tank, which is supported by foundations, community organizations and unions, reported that Ohio’s 12-month job growth rate of 1.35% continues to trail the national average of 1.7%, but it represents an improvement over the pace of job creation since the official start of the last national recession in 2007.

“Ohio needs many more months of five-figure employment growth to close the job gap, so (August’s) losses are disappointing,” said researcher Hannah Halbert in a press release. “However, the August loss is slight, and didn’t come close to wiping out recent gains. That’s an improvement from the earlier trend.”

Although Northeast Ohio and the state posted job losses, Kleinhenz noted that the country posted a less-than-expected gain of 151,000 jobs. CNBC reported that Wall Street economists were expecting the nonfarm payrolls report to show a gain of 180,000 in August.

“This figure still remains above the required gain to keep the unemployment rate moving down on a slow, yet steady, pace,” Kleinhenz said. “It is important to note that as the economy gets closer to its full employment — and we are getting close — finding workers increases in difficulty.”

Kleinhenz cited Bureau of Labor Statistics data that show job openings “rose sharply in July, and the rate of openings was a record high. Meanwhile, the increase in hiring was not as great. Openings have grown faster than hires for nearly every month over the last year and a half.”

Hirings differ from job gains since job gains are net of hirings, firings and employment lost from deaths.

“All in all the data suggest that firms are having a challenging time filling positions but also indicating that workers are moving to jobs that better suit them and their efficiencies,” Kleinhenz reported.

Seaonally adjusted

Ace-Report-Aug
Month Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Mar-16 1,175,919   478,541   697,378  215,829 960,090
Apr (est) 1,171,007   476,478   694,529  215,846 955,161
May (est) 1,176,132   478,537   697,595  217,167 958,965
Jun (est) 1,174,496   477,833   696,663  217,419 957,077
Jul (est) 1,178,355   479,348   699,007  218,912 959,442
Aug (est) 1,174,729   478,016   696,713  216,188 958,541
Recent Month’s Estimated Change Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
July ’16 to Aug ’16 (3,626)  (1,331.90)  (2,294) (2,724) (902)
Diff from Aug 2015 8,340  3,484  4,856 244 8,096
Trend Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
3-month 1,175,860 478,399 697,461  217,507  958,353
6-month 1,175,106 478,125 696,981  216,894  958,213

September 23, 2016

Photo by COLE GOLDBERG
By

ACE Report: July jobs growth continues region’s slow, steady path

Posted on by katiecmorgan

Employment was up in Northeast Ohio in July, with an increase in private payrolls of 3,974 jobs, according to data in the latest Ahola Crain’s Employment (ACE) Report.

That 1.03% jump is the fifth increase in the last six months. Since January, the number of people employed in the private sector in the seven counties of the Cleveland metropolitan area has grown by 12,014, to 1,178,449. The only decline was in June, when employment dropped by 1,138 to 1,174,474 jobs.

Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE model, noted that U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports also indicated that, in July, there are more people joining the workforce and that average hourly earnings and average weekly hours increased as well.

“Consequently, there are more people employed, working longer hours and earning larger pay,” Kleinhenz said.

Kleinhenz said that second-quarter U.S. economic growth was well below expectations, rising at an annualized rate of 1.2%, nearly half the gain anticipated by consensus forecasts. He said growth slowed primarily because of an ongoing slump in business investment and slowdowns globally, especially in the energy sector.

Separately, in a report on the economy of the Cleveland metropolitan area released last Thursday, Aug. 25, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland said employment in the metropolitan area grew by 0.5% for the year ending September 2015, lower than employment growth in the state (1.2%) or the country (2.0%).

The report, by economist Joel Elvery, noted that in the 12 months ended September 2015, three sectors added more than 2,000 jobs: education and health services (2,531 jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (2,446); and hospitality (2,364). Two sectors had significant job losses over that 12-month period: professional and business services (2,265) and manufacturing (600).

Elvery attributed the weak employment growth in the Cleveland region relative to the state and country to “sustained population loss. However, population loss slowed greatly in 2013 and 2014. Hopefully, this headwind will fade.”

Looking ahead, another Cleveland Fed economist, senior vice president Mark Schweitzer, said the regional economic outlook is for steady, if modest, growth.

“We’ve had three quarters of relatively weak growth” in the Cleveland Fed’s district, Schweitzer said at a regional economic outlook session on Aug. 18 at the Cleveland Fed. “We’re still expecting things to be better in the coming quarter.”

The Cleveland Fed’s district includes all of Ohio, eastern Kentucky and parts of western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.

Seaonally adjusted

Month Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Dec 1,169,198   475,677   693,522 216,446 952,753
Jan (est.) 1,166,435   474,565   691,870 215,754 950,681
Feb (est.) 1,168,282   475,385   692,897 215,118 953,164
Mar (est.) 1,168,421   475,440   692,981 215,157 953,264
Apr (est.) 1,170,593   476,314   694,278 215,700 954,893
May (est.) 1,175,612   478,324   697,288 217,094 958,518
June (est.) 1,174,474   477,808   696,666 217,637 956,838
July (est.) 1,178,449   479,380   699,069 219,023 959,426

August 26, 2016

ACE Report: Despite job losses, other signs suggest economic growth

Posted on by katiecmorgan

A projected decline of 2,343 jobs in June ended a five-month string of Northeast Ohio job gains, though the loss may only reflect a summertime blip since other indicators suggest job and economic growth, according to data in the latest Ahola Crain’sEmployment (ACE) Report.

Also, the month-to-month, 0.02%, drop in seasonally adjusted employment for the seven-county Akron-Cleveland region, is balanced against a year-over-year gain of 6,249 jobs, a 0.54% increase from June 2015 to June 2016.

“It’s hard to gauge whether or not the expected pullback in payrolls point to a sea change in regional economic activity,” said Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE model. “Payroll growth has been choppy.  A similar pattern was evident in 2015 as payrolls fell off in the summer but then rebounded in the fall.”

Private-sector employment in the metro area dropped 0.22%, or 2,589 jobs, between June 2015 and July 2015, according to the ACE model, before recovering.

The report projects that service producing firms account for about 2,279 lost jobs, while the goods producing sector shows only a loss of about 64 jobs.

Kleinhenz noted that the stronger dollar “has shown to be a significant speed bump for regional, state and U.S. manufacturing exporters and has created a drag on domestic employment, income and spending.”

He said the research office of the Ohio Development Services Agency estimates that Ohio merchandise exports declined 3%, or $50.7 billion, between 2014 and 2015. But, Kleinhenz reported, other indicators of the economy do point in a positive direction.

“Both the Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes showed a pickup in the pace of growth in June and registered expansionary readings for survey’s employment component,” he said. “This bodes well for area income and spending.”

The U.S. manufacturing sector showed strong growth in June according to the latest monthly survey conducted by the Institute for Supply Management. Manufacturing supply executives indicated a Purchasing Managers’ Index increase of 1.9%

Of the 18 manufacturing sectors tracked by ISM, 13 reported growth in June led by printing, textiles, petroleum and coal products and food, beverage and tobacco products. The three industries reporting contractions are electrical equipment, appliances and components; transportation equipment; and rubber and plastic products.

Month Non-Farm Small (1-49) Mid-Sized (50+) Goods-producing Service Producing
Dec (actual) 1,169,198    475,677   693,522 216,446 952,753
Jan (est.) 1,165,378    474,177   691,201 214,962 950,416
Feb (est.) 1,167,066    474,922   692,143 214,430 952,635
Mar (est.) 1,167,163    474,950   692,213 214,622 952,541
Apr (est.) 1,169,020    475,698   693,323 215,075 953,945
May (est.) 1,173,765    477,613   696,152 216,172 957,593
June (est) 1,171,422    476,634   694,788 216,108 955,313

 

By

July 29, 2016