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After the great recession (2007 - 2009 - officially), the economy's recovery began in 2010, and has been gaining strength since then. Here are some key statistics that show were we are are now, and where critical skills gaps remain that could impact our economic growth.
KEY INSIGHTS
· Hiring strong and stable through April – In April, hiring across the U.S. was 19.8% higher than in April 2017. Seasonally-adjusted hiring, nationally, was 2.1% higher in April than in March 2018. The industries with the biggest year-over-year hiring increases in April were aerospace, automotive, and transportation (23.3% higher); financial services & insurance (22.2% higher); and manufacturing and industrial (17.3% higher).
· The U.S. needs 230,000 more people with marketing skills – Companies, large and small, need marketing to grow. Small businesses may not have resources for a full-time marketing hire, but they still need these skills—which range from social media and digital marketing, to market research and branding. Given how critical marketing skills are across sectors, we were surprised to find that the U.S. has a national shortage of 230,000 people with marketing skills.
· The San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and even New York City—the center of the advertising universe—have the greatest shortages of people with these skills. But smaller cities like Nashville, Charlotte and Tucson also have a shortage. So where are all the marketers? The cities with the biggest surpluses are Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, St. Louis, Las Vegas, and Orange County.
· Americans are moving from high-tax states to low-tax states, but the driver isn’t what you may think – This month we took a look at migration trends through the lens of state tax burdens, inclusive of income, sales, and property taxes. Though there is a correlation between states with lower taxes and states that more people are moving to, the states with the very lowest tax burdens aren’t the top attractors in terms of migration inflows. Instead, the cities gaining the most people are those rich in economic opportunities - with strong hiring and relatively affordable housing. The U.S. cities gaining the most people are Denver, Austin, and Seattle, which each have tax burdens near the middle of the pack.
Hiring strong and stable through April
In April, hiring across the U.S. was 19.8% higher than in April 2017.
Seasonally adjusted hiring was 2.1% higher in April than in March, 2018.
Industry Hiring
The industries with the biggest year-over-year hiring increases in March were aerospace, automotive, and transportation (23.3% higher); financial services and insurance (22.2% higher); and manufacturing and industrial (17.3% higher).
SKILLS GAPS - the U.S. needs 230,000 more people with marketing skills
Companies, large and small, need marketing to grow. Small businesses may not have resources for a full-time marketing hire, but they still need these skills—which range from social media and digital marketing, to market research and branding.
Given how critical marketing skills are across sectors, we were surprised to find that the U.S. has a national shortage of 230,000 people with marketing skills. The San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and even New York City—the center of the advertising universe—have the greatest shortages of people with these skills. But smaller cities like Nashville, Charlotte and Tucson also have a shortage.
So where are all the marketers? The cities with the biggest surpluses are Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, St. Louis, Las Vegas, and Orange County. Other cities with intense surpluses relative to their population size include Daytona Beach, Sarasota; Lakeland; and Saginaw. So if you’re trying to hire a marketer to grow your business, these might be a great place to find someone with the skills you need.
Skills gaps like these are fundamentally local, and specific to the supply and demand of individual skills. There is an abundance, or surplus, of skills when supply exceeds demand. There is a scarcity, or shortage, of skills when demand exceeds supply. A city with a scarcity of skills needs more people with certain skills, while a city with an abundance of skills has too many people with certain skills.
Skills gaps can be narrowed by people moving to cities where their skills are in demand; by businesses opening up shop in cities where there’s an abundance of the skills they need; by training people to learn the skills that are in demand from employers; and by employers offering higher pay for in-demand skills. In order to narrow skills gaps, cities should seek to understand the dynamics of their own labor markets and create policies to align education and training with employer needs.
These statistics tell us a few things.
1. The economy is looking pretty good
2. People with marketing skills are in high demand
3. The storm clouds that could rain on our economic parade are a lack of skills workers
If you are concerned about how to maintain your growth in the face of the current climate, the professionals at ASN can help. Give us a call and we can help you plan for a profitable future.
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