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29 Sep 2011 10:32

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Biz: Jobless claims fall to super-low level … but there’s a catch

  • good news Weekly jobless claims reached their lowest level in nearly six months, which seems like it’s a cause to celebrate, especially since it greatly beat analysts’ estimates. On the surface, it seems like a cause for dancing in the streets, folks.
  • catch However … the Labor Department claims that report is off because of some sort of weird anomaly regarding the calendar, making it harder to seasonally-adjust the numbers. So, things are still crappy for the workforce. source

02 Sep 2011 12:19

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Biz, U.S.: August’s depressingly bad job numbers will depress you greatly

  • 17k number of jobs gained in the private sector in August — down significantly from July
  • 17k number of jobs lost in the public sector in August — see where this is going, guys?
  • 0k number of jobs created as a whole in August; unemployment stayed at 9.1 percent source
  • » Another month of 9-plus-percent unemployment: Of the past 28 months, 26 of them have sported unemployment above 9 percent. And here’s a number that will depress the crap out of you — 14 million people are currently unemployed, which makes job gains of 100,000 seem like not enough, let alone completely flat months like August.

19 Aug 2011 01:57

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Biz: Bank of America dropping some assets. By “assets,” we mean people.

  • 10,000+ number of workers expected to lose their jobs in a company restructuring; that’s 3.5 percent of the workforce
  • 3,500 workers could get laid off this quarter alone, which is happening in efforts to stage a company turnaround source

06 Jul 2011 22:04

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Politics: Connecticut mandates sick leave for employees, first in nation to do so

  • YES every worker in CT will receive paid sick time source
  • » Bucking the trend: 2011 hasn’t been a great year for worker’s rights; for further information on this, Google “Scott Walker.” However, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy reversed the tide this week, signing a bill that grants all employees, public and private, one hour of mandatory paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. This is the first real political victory workers have enjoyed all year, at least at the state level; in addition, Connecticut is the first state in the nation to pass such a law. The only thing proponents of the law didn’t get? A signing ceremony for the bill. (Note: the law only applies to companies with more than 50 employees).

08 Jun 2011 21:24

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U.S.: The gender pay gap: Still alive and kicking

  • $44,149 median starting salary for males with a bachelor’s degree, as of 2010
  • $36,451 median starting salary for a woman with the same degree source
  • » Just for the record, that’s a 17% difference between genders.

03 Jun 2011 12:18

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U.S.: Unemployment creeps upward for second month in a row

  • 9.1% unemployment in May, up from 9% in April  source
  • » That’s a .2% increase since March, when unemployment was looking “good” at 8.9%. A total of 83,000 jobs were added in the (nonfarm) private sector; however, 29,000 governmental employees got the axe last month, bringing the total number of jobs added down to 54,000. Here’s to a better month.

18 Apr 2011 21:12

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Biz, U.S.: Question: What company wants to hire a lot of people, stat?

  • 50,000 new jobs, but there’s a catch source
 

03 Dec 2010 10:38

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Biz: Here are some more of those depressing jobs numbers you love

  • 39k the number of jobs added to payrolls in November
  • 172k the number of jobs added in the less-depressing prior month
  • 9.8% the unemployment rate, which is up (!) from October source

01 Dec 2010 11:05

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Biz: Like contradictory jobs data? Here’s some good, then some bad

  • 93k the growth in private-sector employment last month (nice!)
  • 03/07 the last time job growth was that high in a single month (pre-recession)
  • ten consecutive months of private-sector job growth source
  • » Not all rosy: The above tally, by payroll processor ADP, is definitely positive, but separate data by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas says that employers were looking to cut jobs, too – at a rate of 48,711 last month, the highest level in six months. Gotta love contradictory data, but the firms tend to focus on different part of the employment life process.

15 Nov 2010 20:49

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U.S.: Unemployed man offers big bucks for a job

  • $25k reward for finding this guy a job source