Job Growth Is Seen Slowing In Second Half --- Conference Board Predicts Businesses Will Still Feel Pressure to Trim Staffs
The country's meager job growth in the first half will continue at an even slower pace for the rest of year as more companies cut staff, the Conference Board predicts.</br></br>The pressure to contain costs is prevalent despite recent signs that the worldwide economy is picking up, Gail Fosler, the board's chief economist said at a news conference.</br></br>"The leading indicators suggest an upturn in Japan and an incipient upturn in Europe, except for Germany," she said. But because international competition will remain intense amid weak demand, she said, virtually all U.S. industries will remain under price pressure.</br></br>The positive effect of that pressure is that a rise in short-term interest rates isn't likely over the next 12 months, and longterm rates could decline further, she added. Moreover, her reading of economic figures and anecdotal evidence from corporate members of the Conference Board indicate that "the talk about an increase in inflation is absolutely crazy."</br></br>The spate of recent job cut announcements also suggests that business executives are not expecting robust growth. In June, big companies announced 38,669 layoffs, compared with 14,086 in May, according to the Challenger Employment Report, which tracks corporate announcements. And for the first two weeks of July, ISI Group, an economic consulting firm, counted 23 layoff announcements, more than twice as many as a year earlier.