Price pressures for goods and services are generally slight. Temporary agencies report great difficulty in finding workers. Metropolitan agencies have a particularly high demand for administrative assistants and other high-end clerical workers, while suburban firms are experiencing a shortage of general laborers. In addition to the traditional want ads, agencies are recruiting at churches, job fairs, colleges, and state employment agencies. Retailers, pressed to find qualified individuals at all skill levels, have changed their incentives and recruiting procedures to attract new employees.
Some manufacturers report a long-term problem in hiring people with a strong electronics background.
Job security continues to be a high concern for unions, whose success in obtaining more job security provisions and longer contracts has been mixed. Manufacturing Production has increased, and new orders continue at the high levels of previous months. Inventories may have risen, largely because of a planned effort to balance production with increased demand. Firms report no price pressure in raw materials, with smaller increases than in previous months. Back orders have also increased.