
May 2
Ford is hiring more workers for its Claycomo plant
Automaker decides to add a third shift of F-150 production because of an improving economy and surging sales of the pickup trucks.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Automaker decides to add a third shift of F-150 production because of an improving economy and surging sales of the pickup trucks.

To meet surging demand for its best-selling F-150 pickup trucks, Ford Motor Co. plans to add 900 jobs and a third shift at its Claycomo plant. The company confirmed in a statement that the new jobs will be announced at a 10:30 a.m. event at the plant with Joe Hinrichs, Fords president of the Americas, and Gov. Jay Nixon in attendance.
Kansas City area employers added a net 1,800 jobs from March 2012 to March 2013, a 0.2 percent increase. The drop in joblessness from 7.1 percent a year earlier was partly due to about 8,000 workers leaving the local labor force and no longer being counted as working or looking for work.
The Mid-America Business Conditions index dropped to 56.8 in April from 58.2 in March, according to a report released by Creighton University in Omaha. But the survey noted that the economy in the region should continue to grow over the next three to six months. The employment component of the survey rose to 60.7 in April from March’s 56.3, the third consecutive month for growth.
The four will receive the Chamber’s Ace Award Tuesday afternoon, which recognizes managers for “outstanding achievement in their industries, inspiring and mentoring others and making exceptional contributions to the success of their employers.”
The cost to employers of employee pay and benefits grew 0.3 percent in the first quarter this year to stand 1.8 percent higher than a year earlier. The governments employment cost index, published Tuesday, said employers costs for civilian wages and salaries rose 1.6 percent over the 12 months ending in March 2013.
Large job fairs, one in Olathe and one in Kansas City north of the Missouri River, expect big turnouts.

Inez Kaiser, a longtime figure in the Kansas City civil rights scene who helped women and minorities stake new ground in business, was feted at a party Sunday celebrating her 95th birthday.
Among the nation’s 80.1 million families, the number with at least one unemployed person dropped to 8.4 million, compared with 9 million a year earlier. That was a decline to 10.5 percent of all families, down from 11.5 percent.
The seasonal job market remains competitive, but a survey of hirers indicates that there may be more openings this summer than the previous five years.
Missouri Jobs with Justice and the Missouri AFL-CIO are organizing a grassroots appeal that is scheduled for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3p.m.
The interim dean at the Helzberg School of Management wins the dean’s chair after a national search.
A new poll finds that most employees don’t understand how their health insurance plans might change and most employers don’t think it’s important to their organizations to educate them.

A “realignment of operations” leads to the elimination of 45 more positions. A spokeswoman for the hospitals said many of the jobs were in management or administrative positions that provided services that now are covered by Prime Healthcare Services.
The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs reviews the quality and integrity of business degree programs. The certification is based on an independent review of the business school and its programs by academic administrators, faculty and other professionals.
Entrepreneurial activity fell in tandem with the unemployment rate last year.
The Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City presented its Leadership in Labor-Management Cooperation award last week to Sam Alpert, executive director of the Construction Users Council. The council also honored Gary O’Bannon, Kansas City’s director of human resources, with its service award.

The Bright Future Employment Fair drew more than 250 young people to the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus. “Young people may be only about 30 percent of our population, but they are 100 percent of the future,” Mayor Sly James told the assembled applicants.
The jobless rate in Kansas rose slightly to 5.6 percent in March, compared with 5.5 percent in February. Missouri’s jobless rate held at 6.7 percent.
Only 58.6 percent of Americans aged 16-24 were enrolled in high school or college last fall, which effectively raises the national labor force participation and unemployment rates because non-students are far more likely to be working or looking for work.