January 2010

December 2009 Unemployment Stats By Gender, Race and Industry

Based on December 2009 stats released by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rates across the nation for adults are still at or near double digits:  10.2% for men compared to 8.2% for women.

Broken down by race, unemployment for people of color is high: 16.2% of blacks are unemployed compared to 12.9% of Hispanics and 8.4% for Asians.  The unemployment rate for whites is holding at 9.0%.

Periods of unemployment are lasting longer with the average number of jobless weeks at 27 weeks or more.  This trend is continuing to move upward with up to 6.1 million unemployed as of December, 2009.

Disappearing Jobs

Jobs continue to vanish in the areas of construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade while areas such as temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs to their payrolls.

Construction employment declined by 53,000 in December, with job losses being felt across the industry.  Manufacturing jobs decreased by 27,000 during the same period.

Employment in the area of Wholesale Trade declined by 18,000 in December, with the most notable decline taking place among durable goods wholesalers. Retail employment has experienced very little change with the exception of general merchandise stores which suffered the loss of 15,000 jobs.

Who’s Hiring?

Both the Healthcare and Temporary Help Services industries have increased their hiring with Temporary Help Services adding 47,000 jobs in December and Healthcare adding 22,000 jobs within the same time frame; particularly in the area of home health care services and in physicians offices.

Dianne Shaddock is the Founder of Easy Small Business HR, Employee Hiring and Managing Tips.  Through the Employee Hiring and Managing Tips podcast, blog, and weekly ‘quick tips’  e-newsletters,  Dianne offers expert advice on how to make better hiring decisions, manage difficult employees, develop employee policies, motivate staff, and so much more.   No stuffy, corporate HR policy lingo; but straight forward, easy to understand and implement advice for businesses just like yours.  Stay ahead of the curve and go to Easy Small Business HR for more tips on how to hire and manage your staff effectively.

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New Hire Paperwork Checklist: Important Forms Not To Overlook

The following are a list of documents that you should have on file for every new employee. The amount of time that businesses should keep these documents may vary from state to state.

  • Resume or Job application
  • Federal and State Tax Forms
  • Employment Eligibility Form, (I-9)

Resumes/Job Application

Having a resume or a job application on file is not a legal requirement, but a best business practice as it will be important to have a record of your employees’ experience for the job that they were hired for.

Federal and State Tax Forms

Employers are required to submit federal tax forms to the Internal Revenue Service for employees on the staff payroll.  State tax form requirements vary from state to state.  To learn more about federal tax form requirements go to IRS.gov.

A handy site to review and download federal tax forms is Forms.gov.

The Federation of Tax Administrators, (FTA) is a great resource if you are looking for downloadable state tax forms for your specific state.

Employment Eligibility Form, (I-9)

Employers are required to verify that al employees hired in the U.S. are eligible to work in this country.  The I-9 form meets this federal requirement by requiring employers to obtain verification of citizenship by asking new hires to provide specific documents like a U.S. passport.  Learn more about these requirements and download the I-9 form at Forms.gov .

Depending on your business, there may be additional forms that you may choose to create that are specific to your company which will enhance your record keeping and employee tracking goals:

  • Direct Deposit Forms
  • New Employee Orientation/On-boarding Checklist
  • Confidentiality or Conflict of Interest Agreement
  • Performance Review Form

Don’t get overwhelmed by the idea that  having a variety of forms will make your business more of a bureaucracy by adding forms that you don’t need.  Start with the basics and only add additional forms if it makes sense for your business.

Dianne Shaddock is the Founder of Easy Small Business HR, Employee Hiring and Managing Tips.  Through the Employee Hiring and Managing Tips podcast, blog, and weekly ‘quick tips’  e-newsletters,  Dianne offers expert advice on how to make better hiring decisions, manage difficult employees, develop employee policies, motivate staff, and so much more.   No stuffy, corporate HR policy lingo; but straight forward, easy to understand and implement advice for businesses just like yours.  Stay ahead of the curve and go to Easy Small Business HR for more tips on how to hire and manage your staff effectively.


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