It was revealed today that the US unemployment rate has fallen to a to a five-year low of 6.7%.
The drop in unemployment reinforces the importance of ensuring that the best talent management processes are in place to capture and enhance the contribution of new hires and existing employees.
The number of unemployed people fell by 490,000 to 10.4 million in December. Over 2013, the number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate were down by 1.9 million and 1.2 percentage points, respectively.
74,000 fresh jobs were created across the US in December with the Manufacturing, Leisure, and Services sectors showing the most growth. The Labor Department also said 38,000 more jobs were created in November than previously estimated.
Economists expect growth of 3% this year; increase of 1.3% compared to 2013.
As companies across the US and Canada prepare for increased human capital management demands, the first two quarters of 2014 are set to offer a window for implementing and utilizing HR software.
Identifying and implementing simple, cloud-hosted HR software is proven to assist with processes such as recruitment, performance management, coaching and development, incentivization and succession planning.
Sprigg Talent Management Systems, for example, helps companies looking to on board, train, develop and evaluate employees. Not only can the online tool save five hours per review, it can also present faster, more metric-driven data to help HR develop human capital ROI analysis.
December actually saw increases under half the number expected by analysts. This was due, in part to the recent extreme weather. The inclement conditions caused significant delays to performance reviews and compensation initiatives.
Q1 of 2014, however, will see extra need to have the right HR processes and tools in place to help with backlogs of thousands of new hires.