5 Jan 2013 by Jim Fickett.
The year-over-year changes in both initial unemployment claims and temporary help services tend to lead the year-over-year change in the number of jobs. Both the leading indicators correctly predicted that job growth would level out at a rate not much above the rate of population growth. Now both the leading indicators are taking a dip, suggesting that job growth may slip below even its current anemic level.
The recovery continues for now, but this, in combination with two quarters of very weak growth in GDI, is worrisome. The signs are by no means definitive yet; hopefully this is yet another temporary soft patch.