Household Spending
In February, household purchases climbed the most in five months, even after the federal payroll tax was increased by two percentage points at the start of the year and gasoline prices climbed.
Businesses like Winnebago Industries Inc. have had to add more workers as output increased. The Forest City, Iowa-based maker of motor homes boosted daily production 24 percent during its fiscal second quarter compared with the prior three months, partly by adding staff, according to Chief Financial Officer Sarah Nielsen.
“The lines are completely filled and running, and we’ve been hiring,” Nielsen said during a March 28 earnings call. “Our headcount at this juncture is a little bit under where we need to, but we’ve been keeping up for the most part.” The company has been adding about 20 people a week on a consistent basis, she said.
Construction companies added 18,000 workers last month after a 49,000 surge in February that was the biggest in almost six years, today’s report showed.
Apartment Construction
The Pollack Shores Real Estate Group, an Atlanta-based apartment developer and property manager, has boosted employment to 120 this week from 93 at the end of 2012. The company plans to build about 2,000 apartments this year, twice as many as last year, said President Steven Shores.
“That will create a significant number of construction jobs,” which are contracted out and not on the company’s staff directly, he said. “We are starting to see a lack of labor supply drive up some pricing in our areas.”
Employers boosted hours to meet demand, today’s report showed. The average work week for all employees increased by six minutes to 34.6 hours, the highest since February 2012. And temporary-help positions, an indicator of future hiring, increased by 20,000 in March.
Private payrolls, which exclude jobs at government agencies, climbed by 95,000 in March after a revised gain of 254,000 the previous month. Government payrolls decreased by 7,000 last month after a 14,000 increase.