{"id":7943,"date":"2010-08-11t12:46:37","date_gmt":"2010-08-11t16:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=7943"},"modified":"2024-08-14t11:29:50","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14t15:29:50","slug":"when-will-accounting-firms-be-ready-to-start-hiring-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2010\/08\/11\/when-will-accounting-firms-be-ready-to-start-hiring-again\/","title":{"rendered":"when will accounting firms be ready to start hiring again?"},"content":{"rendered":"

firms maintain headcounts 4% smaller than last year and 8% off pre-recession peak.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by rick telberg<\/em><\/p>\n

while the rest of the u.s. economy shed 131,000 jobs in july, sparking fears of a double-dip recession, rosters at accounting and bookkeeping services remained unchanged from the month before at a seasonally-adjusted 893,200 workers. that’s the good news.<\/p>\n

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accounting and bookkeeping services, total employment (by month, in thousands)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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the bad news:\u00a0 july’s employment for the industry represented a 3% decline from the year-ago month, and, possibly, an acceleration in job losses because the 3% year-to-year decline in july followed a 2.8% year-to-year decline in june, 2.9% may-to-may, and 1.8% for both march and april.<\/p>\n

seasonally-adjusted total industry employment peaked in january 2008 at 970,100 workers, making the workforce in july about 7.9% smaller, according to the latest employment situation report from the u.s. bureau of labor statistics.<\/p>\n

without the seasonal adjustments, <\/strong>the bureau of labor statistics counted 818,000 employees at accounting and bookkeeping services, representing a fractional decline from june’s 818,400.<\/p>\n

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accounting and bookkeeping employment, not seasonally adjusted<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

year to year, july’s 818,000 number represented a 3.4% decline from the year-ago july and the lowest number since 1.099 million in february 2008.<\/p>\n

in cpa firms specifically,<\/strong> the bls counted a non-seasonally-adjusted 391,700 employees for june, the latest month available, representing\u00a0 a marginal decline from may’s 392,700 and a 3.7% drop from the year-ago month. employment peaked at cpa firms with 445,400 employees in february 2008.<\/p>\n

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cpa offices, all employees, thousands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

at tax preparation services,<\/strong> non-seasonally-adjusted employment sank to 50,300 workers, down 19% from the month before and 5.8% from the year before.<\/p>\n

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tax prep services, all employees, thousands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

payroll services<\/strong> continued their long, bumpy decline in june with 152,400 workers, a 0.7% dip from may, but a 0.5% gain from the year-ago month.<\/p>\n

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payroll services, all employees, thousands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

in the bls’s catch-all “other accounting services,”<\/strong> june employment declined 1.1% to 224,000 from may and 5.8% from the same month a year before.<\/p>\n

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other accounting services, all employees, thousands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

so when will firms start hiring again?
\ntell us in comments<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n