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25 Aug 2011 10:44

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Biz: Unemployment claims rise based on a single company’s labor issues

  • what Even though investors were expecting a drop in first-time jobless claims last week to roughly 400,000, they actually went up to 417,000 — up 5,000 from the prior week. Wait a second …
  • why Simple — Verizon workers went on strike, and 8,500 of them filed unemployment benefits (12,500 filed the week before). They’ve since gone back to work, so expect this to change next week. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

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
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Aug 2011 02:48

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Biz: Starbucks CEO to corporations: Get off your butt and hire some people!

  • Record levels of cash are piling up in corporate treasuries, idling. The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it.
  • Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz • Following the lead of Warren Buffett and pushing for more responsibility from those that can afford it. While Buffett went after super-rich taxpayers; Schultz instead is going after corporations that are sitting on piles of cash, yet are staying on the sidelines and choosing not to hire more people — or worse, putting that money into political campaigns in hopes of putting business-friendly leadership in power in 2012. While Starbucks has had union issues and gay rights issues crop up recently, the company does have a reputation for treating its employees better than most corporations of its size. Kudos, Howard. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Aug 2011 13:46

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Biz, U.S.: Jobs report: More silver lining than cloud, but it’s still cloudy out

  • positive After a couple of fairly mediocre months, the latest jobs report from the federal government was fairly positive, showing a dip in unemployment to 9.1 percent and an increase in jobs.
  • negative Problem is, the report happened to come the day after a massive stock selloff that followed a week of non-positive economic data. And a debt ceiling crisis. And a weakened worldwide economy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2011 17:15

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Politics: Mitt Romney, unemployed American everyman

  • I should tell my story. I’m also unemployed.
  • Presidential candidate Mitt Romney • Cracking the sort of joke that only really goes over well with a crowd that likes you. A memo to all multi-millionaires out there: I hope this doesn’t sound like “class warfare,” but don’t make jokes about having hardships that you demonstrably don’t have. Does having tons of cash mean you can’t have problems in your life? Not at all. Would unemployment be one of them? Not really. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jun 2011 16:30

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Politics: Media outlets cut away from Pelosi’s job talk

  • ‘Less jobs, more Weiner,’ media pleads: This is the sort of thing that, after what’s already been a very overblown frenzy over the scandal (and today’s resignation) of Anthony Weiner, serves as an instant representation of what’s frustrating us right now. What makes this even worse is that Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly and stridently called for Weiner’s resignation. As the Democratic Leader, that condemnation is part of what Weiner seemed to feel forced his hand. Is there really even anything left to ask her about this? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 May 2011 10:46

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Biz: April jobs numbers: Mostly good this time, but not completely

  • 244k the number of jobs added in April, according to fresh jobs numbers released today
  • 268k the number of jobs added specifically to the private sector, which drove the growth
  • 9% the unemployment rate, which is up slightly from March’s number, 8.8 percent source
  • » Overall, decent news: Economists largely feel that the numbers are positive this time around. One negative of note is the decline of public sector jobs, which fell by 24,000 last month. However, some economists note that certain numbers, such as weak construction numbers and a lack of growth in average work hours, give them pause. Still though, a few negative-looking economic reports from earlier in the week made these numbers look much better than expected.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 May 2011 01:29

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U.S.: Stay in school and you’re much, much more likely to get a job

  • This is why they tell you to stay in school, kids. Seriously, look at that discrepancy! Of course, the usual causation-correlation disclaimer is in effect here; maybe the kids who graduated college were the ones naturally more predisposed to keeping a job anyway? Nevertheless, this should give pause to any high schoolers considering dropping out. (source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

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
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Apr 2011 11:15

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U.S.: Unemployment falls, 261k new jobs added in March

  • 8.8% unemployment rate, lowest in two years source
  • » There’s more: In the last four months, unemployment has fallen a total of one percent. This may not seem significant, but it’s in fact the largest four-month drop since 1983. Even if the economy continued to grow at this rate, though, the US wouldn’t be back to pre-recession employment rates until–wait for it–2018. So while this is a good jobs report, it’s not quite good enough. Here’s to the future!
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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