The job market cooled more than analysts expected in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest jobs report. Unemployment continued to tick upward, hitting a three-year high, while the number of jobs added fell from June. Let’s take a closer look.

Diving into the data. The unemployment rate jumped up to 4.3% in July, up from 4.1% in June. July’s jobless rate marks the highest number of unemployment claims since October 2021, when it was 4.5%. Employers added 114,000 total jobs last month, down from the revised estimate of 179,000 jobs that were added in June. By comparison, economists forecast that businesses would add 175,000 jobs and unemployment would remain unchanged at 4.1%, per CNN.

While the latest jobs report has renewed concerns of a possible recession and further boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve Bank will cut interest rates in September, recruiting experts say what the data could mean for HR leaders varies by industry.

“It’s very important to look at the different segments of the labor market. Different companies hire very different groups of workers,” Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter’s chief economist, told HR Brew.

Keep reading here.—PM

Zoomers are set to take over the office. In fact, 2 billion Gen Zers are currently coming of age and will make up 30% of the workforce by 2030. If you’ve got your ear to the ground, you’ve definitely heard things about these up-and-comers—and you probably have a question or two.

Fortunately, Hibob’s new guide to maximizing zoomers’ potential has answers. It addresses 11 challenges that modern companies must contend with when it comes to helping Gen Z crush it in the workplace.

Plus, you’ll get the deets on the three key areas that the new gen prioritizes:

• clear career growth paths
• company alignment to personal values
• a strong sense of community

Get the most out of the future.

HCM software giant ADP closed its fiscal 2024 with better than expected earnings, as the company celebrates its 75th anniversary, CEO Maria Black told investors this week.

Black pointed to success in ADP’s three priorities in fiscal year 2024: “best-in-class HCM technology” (including the launch of ADP Assist, its new cross-platform AI-powered tool), continuing to provide expert guidance to clients—Black also pointed to developments in AI here—as well as an expansion of the company’s global reach.

• ADP reported 6% YoY revenue growth in Q4, to $4.8 billion.
• The company closed out the full fiscal year 2024 with a 7% growth.
• It reported a growth in revenue to $19.2 billion for the year.

Black lauded ADP’s deployment of AI tools, suggesting that each way the company has developed AI both in its products and internally for sales and service associates “feed[s]” its revenue model.

Keep reading here.—AD

Is it cool to use AI in the hiring process? That may depend on which side of the desk you’re on.

HR personnel and job seekers have very different views on AI’s role in hiring, a new survey by HireVue reveals. Almost three-quarters (73%) of the 1,000 HR professionals HireVue surveyed said they trusted AI to make candidate recommendations. Nearly half said they’d be comfortable using AI throughout the hiring process.

But the majority of the 3,100 workers HireVue polled distrust AI when it comes to the hiring process. Almost eight in 10 said they want to know if a company’s using AI during hiring, and three-quarters said they don’t approve of the use of AI to make final hiring decisions. Only half were comfortable with companies’ using it to review applications, and just 37% thought it outperformed humans at finding qualified applicants.

Studies have shown that AI could introduce bias into the hiring process. Some algorithms have been found to produce biased results.

Keep reading on CFO Brew.—CV

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