Seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped from 4 percent in January 2000, to 3.6 percent in January 2001. After a strong showing throughout most of the year, manufacturing industry activity at the end of 2000 was characterized as flat or leveling off across much of the region by the Federal Reserve Board. Pa. - both reported litigation support to be their fastest growing specialty service. Financial services, forensic accounting and corporate outsourcing are the specialty service areas for which most of the Northeast's Top 100 member firms say they see business increasing. Manufacturing, health care, real estate and nonprofits are the client categories most often identified as generating increasing business.
Most firms anticipate an economic downturn of some degree, and have taken steps to address it.
Robert J. Ciaruffoli, chairman and chief executive of Parente Randolph, believes that the economic downturn began last year, as evidenced by the growth of the firm's bankruptcy practice. We have already hired a few people from the dot-com fallout and would like to hire more. Although its seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at year-end was high compared to the rest of the nation at 5.6 percent, the New York metropolitan area, nevertheless, experienced a significant decline from the 6 percent it posted at the start of 2000. The Federal Reserve Board sees strong hiring activity, led by Wall Street, and some labor shortages. It says that while there is a sharp decline in the initial public offerings by securities firms and a modest decline in profits, hiring remains robust and no major staff cuts are being announced.