Although economists predicted that the unemployment rate would increase to 9.5 percent, the unemployment rate went in the other direction, dropping 9 percent last month from 9.4 percent in December. Many would consider this good news, but a number of skeptical analysts don’t see it this way. The government reported that 36,000 new jobs were created last month—the fewest in four months. And analysts say this might not be a sign that that economic recovery is picking up pace.

Jim O’Sullivan, chief economist at MF Global, said that the market is discounting the big drop in the unemployment rate. “The information value of this report is limited because it was obviously affected by the weather,” he said.

The unemployment rate fell despite the small number of new jobs because some people who are out of work gave up looking for a new job, Mr. O’Sullivan said.

Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers, said: “It’s extremely difficult to see beyond the snow to understand today’s data.”

Fortunately, during a recent speech the National Press Club, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed expects the economy to improve this year and inflation to remain low.

A recent msnbc.com careers report just might save thousands of unsuspecting employees from the shock and humiliation that comes with getting fired or laid-off. It’s perfectly fine to play defense, especially in the workplace today, so whether you’re feeling a little paranoid about your benefits being cut or your company’s loyalty to its employees is questionable,the 8 signs listed below will help you beef up your defensive game—so you can stay ahead of the game.

1. Your company is sold
Tough times can mean lots of mergers and acquisitions — was your company bought out or taken over recently? Even if you’ve been told your job is safe, these kinds of corporate moves always mean the deck will be shuffled, so make sure you hold you cards firmly. Make a list of your accomplishments and contributions, and be ready to give a sales pitch on your worth to the company should you be called in by your boss or a consultant.

2. Pay or benefits are cut

3. Co-workers are fired
Pink slips are handed out all around you, but you’ve been told your job is safe. If layoffs have happened at your work, don’t be naive enough to think you couldn’t be next. Make sure you have your resume ready, and scope out the job market. The worst thing is to be laid off and unprepared, so be ready — just in case.

4. You’re left out of meetings

5. You don’t get along with your boss
This one may be obvious, but just in case: If you and your boss aren’t getting along, your job is in jeopardy. Think about it: When he or she is asked whom to give a pink slip, you’ll have a bull’s-eye on your back. If this is you, look for ways to move within your company. Not possible? Suck up to the boss a little. It may be hard, but it might just save your job.

6. You’re given a dead-end task

7. Your projects are stalled
Feel like all of your work is stopped in its tracks because no one seems to be interested? Watch your back: Having your projects stalled out on someone’s desk is like a big neon sign, announcing that you may be fired soon. Look for projects that you can get accomplished, to show you can contribute to the company’s objectives.

8. You see your job advertised

There are two things you can do if you suspect that you are about to get fired. You can do whatever it takes to stand out at work if you think your job can be saved or is worth saving, or you can start looking for a new job so you can do the walking on your own.

It happened after the 2001 recession and it’s happening again. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a report stating that workplace discrimination filings increased from 93,277 to 99,922 between September 2009 and the end of September 2010. The 7.2 increase is the highest level of new discrimination cases ever recorded.

Workplace discrimination cases are typically filed when a worker feels he has been unfairly treated based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected category. The EEOC report shows that the largest increase in filings was from disabled workers. According to a recent NYT report, “this increase may be linked to recent changes in the legal definition of disability to make it more expansive. The Obama administration’s growing reputation of greater interest in discrimination cases than its predecessor may also have increased filings. But experts say the chief reason for the increase in accusations of prejudice is most likely tied to the broad layoffs of the last few years.”

Many employer’s feel that most of the discrimination case filings with the EEOC  are “spurious attempts by workers with no job opportunities who have not experienced discrimination.”

“The majority of the time, the EEOC is still finding no reasonable cause for the charges being filed,” said Michael S. Burkhardt, an employment partner in the Philadelphia office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius who represents employers in discrimination class-action suits. “In some cases, people are just upset that they were terminated, and they happen to be in a protected category. Even if that has nothing to do with why they were terminated, they still file a charge.”

He added that employers have had to become increasingly careful about how they structure layoffs when they reduce their work forces, as many have done since the financial crisis began several years ago.

If you feel that you have been discriminated against in the workplace, contact the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission at 1-800-669-4000 (1-800-669-6820 TTY) or visit the official EEOC website at www.eeoc.gov.

In a recent Tribune news report, several workers ages 50 or better discussed a trend that seems to be catching on in the career world. Older workers, both men and women, are opting for cosmetic procedures more often in order to make themselves more marketable and even in an attempt to hold onto their jobs. One Evergreen Park, Il. woman (a 64-year-old receptionist in a doctor’s office) discussed an ultimatum she received from her boss—do something about your hair or be transferred to a job with less patient contact. Another Illinois resident discussed how working out at the gym for two hours a day, embracing the latest fashions, and coloring her grays was not enough. The resident, Charlotte Doyle age 61, decided to get her teeth straightened after losing her position as a pharmaceutical salesperson after 29 years on the job. “I would do it all—botox, lasers, everything—if I could afford it. If it meant getting hired, I would do whatever I could to stop time,” Doyle said.

Some older workers and even older business owners have decided to take even more drastic measures to shave years from their appearance. Hair salon owner Linda Stanojevic got a midface lift because she thought, “How am I going to make someone else look attractive if it seems that I don’t care about my looks.” And Michael Krause, age 65, decided to get an eyelift  to be a more competitive job candidate. Krause, who thought his eyes made him look old and tired states, “I’m glad I did it because it has given me more confidence. And considering the rejection, that’s something you really need.”

It’s true, looks do count when it comes to increasing your chances of getting (and keeping) a job, according to several research studies on the subject. In one research study, Screening job applicants: The impact of physical attractiveness and application, L.M. Watkins & L. Johnston wrote: “There is considerable empirical evidence that physical attractiveness impacts employment decision making, with the result that the more attractive an individual, the greater the likelihood that that person will be hired.” And in another study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, K. Dion (and colleagues) wrote: “This generalization is known as the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype.”

A review of the literature supports the notion that being physically attractive is an advantage when applying for a job. There is little support for the “beauty is beastly” effect. The “what is beautiful is good” bias seems fairly universal and has been found in a variety of different cultures. Since it is not fair to base hiring decisions on non-job-related factors like attractiveness, training hiring managers to avoid this bias is one way to reduce such inequity.

In the meantime, the Evergreen Park receptionist, who wanted to remain anonymous, has this advice for older workers that may be experiencing a change in appearance (and treatment) due to aging, “No matter where you work, do something before everyone starts to notice.”

If you take a look at Census Bureau data on why any given industry may experience job growth over a period of 10 years, retirement is usually listed as one of the reasons why certain fields will have an impressive percentage of job openings for the decade. But according to a new analysis by a senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, “the median length of time on the job rose markedly during the recession, as fearful workers—particularly baby boomers—clung to their existing positions and a few new employees were hired on.”

The analysis, by Craig Copeland, is based on the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, which asks Americans about their job tenure every two years.

As of January 2010, workers reported they had been on the job a median of 5.2 years, up from 4.9 years in 2006. In 2010, 29.8% of all workers said they had been on the job for 10 years or more, up from 26.7% in 2006.

Among men aged 60 to 64 still working full time, 56.8% had held their current job for 10 years or more, up from 48.1% in January 2006 and 52.4% in January 2008. Such numbers indicate that aging boomers understand that finding a new job is tough for older folks. Indeed, according to a new analysis by the AARP of Department of Labor Statistics’ average duration of unemployment for older laid-off job seekers rose to 44.9 weeks in October.

Even in 2008, “people were switching careers,’’ says Copeland. “We even had a program where we were looking at how large employers were trying to retain their employees. But once the recession hit, that wasn’t a problem. Workers weren’t retiring.”

Other scary news for older Gen Y’ers and graduating seniors is: baby boomers are not the only workers holding on to their jobs. All workers are holding on to their jobs to avoid competing with, well, college graduates, older Gen Y’ers, and the more than 4.2 million unemployed workers currently looking for jobs.

Although the recession is officially over, Copeland is quick to remind Americans that, “the unemployment rate has barely budged; it stood at 9.8% in November compared to 10% the year before.”

For more information about the job outlook for all careers for the 2008-2018 decade, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook at  http://www.bls.gov/oco/.

This just might mean something for millions of unemployed manufacturing workers across America.

Dana Morey, executive vice-president of Morey Corp., remember well Chinese New Year two years ago, when they were calling all over Shenzhen, China, trying unsuccessfully to find someone who could pick up a load of finished parts from a factory during the two-week holiday and ship them to Chicago. Then it was holes not drilled deeply enough in a shipment of circuit boards from a Chinese supplier. Similar problems have occurred in metal and plastic castings.

Morey is part of the wave of “near-shoring” or “re-shoring” of production that gained momentum during the recession. Manufacturers are bringing work back to the U.S. because of the rising cost of shipping, labor and raw materials—coupled with quality problems and shortened lead times from customers unable to predict their own orders in a still-choppy economy.

“People are starting to see they went too far in outsourcing,” says Harry Moser, former chairman of Lincolnshire-based machine-tool maker AgieCharmilles LLC and a proponent of bringing manufacturing work back to the U.S.

The near-shoring trend is hard to quantify, however. A January study by Chicago-based accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP found that 20% of the 312 companies it surveyed had shifted from Asian suppliers last year to partners closer to home, mostly in the U.S. And 12% planned to do so this year.

While it’s not enough to reverse the 40-year shift in manufacturing from the U.S. to Asia, Mexico and Latin America, winning back some work that had gone overseas is helping manufacturers recover from the deep downturn that started three years ago.

Let’s see how many manufacturing companies follow suit in the coming year. So far, Caterpillar, Ford Motor, General Electric, and NCR have already moved operations and thousands of jobs back to the U.S.

The high unemployment rate continues to have an adverse affect even on those who still have jobs.

The furloughs that popped up during the recession are being replaced by a highly unusual tactic: actual cuts in pay.

Local and state governments, as well as some companies, are squeezing their employees to work the same amount for less money in cost-saving measures that are often described as a last-ditch effort to avoid layoffs.

A new report on Tuesday showed a slight dip in overall wages and salaries in June, caused partly by employees working fewer hours.

Though average hourly pay is still higher than when the recession began, the new wage rollbacks feed worries that the economy has weakened and could even be at risk of deflation. That is when the prices of goods and assets fall and people withhold spending as they wait for prices to drop further, a familiar idea to those following the recent housing market.

When it comes to public jobs, many of these cuts may be justified, as we’ve seen many examples of inefficiencies in the public sector. In that sense some of these adjustments are good for the overall economy in the long run.

That said, many of these cuts are painful, and this won’t help get the economy moving in the short term.

We’ve been hearing anecdotal evidence that hiring has been picking up, and today’s job numbers confirm the trend with some good news on the jobs front.

Employment in the U.S. increased in March by the most in three years and the unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent as companies gained confidence the economic recovery will be sustained.

Payrolls rose by 162,000 last month, less than anticipated, figures from the Labor Department in Washington showed today. The March increase included 48,000 temporary workers hired by the government to conduct the 2010 census, as well as job gains in manufacturing and health services.

The government revised January and February payroll figures up by a combined 62,000, putting the March gain at 224,000 after including the updated data. Caterpillar Inc. is among companies adding staff, indicating the recovery that began in the second half of 2009 is starting to foster the jobs needed to lift consumer spending and sustain the expansion.

Let’s see if this can be sustained. Much of the stimulus money is still in the pipeline, so we can expect more hiring resulting from those federal dollars and they work their way through the economy. Also, manufacturing seems to be picking up, so that could also have a very positive effect.

BusinessWeek recently had an interesting article on the challenges facing young people in this economy. Many of them just can’t land jobs.

Bright, eager—and unwanted. While unemployment is ravaging just about every part of the global workforce, the most enduring harm is being done to young people who can’t grab onto the first rung of the career ladder.

Affected are a range of young people, from high school dropouts, to college grads, to newly minted lawyers and MBAs across the developed world from Britain to Japan. One indication: In the U.S., the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds has climbed to more than 18%, from 13% a year ago.

For people just starting their careers, the damage may be deep and long-lasting, potentially creating a kind of “lost generation.” Studies suggest that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income as people get stuck in jobs that are beneath their capabilities, or come to be seen by employers as damaged goods.

Equally important, employers are likely to suffer from the scarring of a generation.

This danger of “scarring” seems real, but if you find yourself in this group you have to be proactive and NOT let this hurt you. That may sound easy, as options are now clearly limited. However, on the other hand, the dire condition of the economy can also be used to alter your perceptions of what you need at this time in your life. Many graduates expected to get a high-paying job immediately upon graduation, and now many of those job aren’t available. Yet is that what you really need RIGHT NOW?

In many cases the answer is no. Maybe you can now consider a cool internship that pays little but offers an incredible experience. Perhaps you can take a much-needed break and go on that backpacking trip that you dreamed of doing after college. This of course depends on your funds, though the cost of travel has plummeted.

Alternatively, you can be aggressive about doing something entrepreneurial or contracting out services online.

We know if sucks out there, but you have to make the best of the situation you’re facing. Get motivated, and good things will happen!

With unemployment soaring in the current recession, many Americans are taking jobs they would not have considered in the past.

Some of the dirtiest, smelliest, most dangerous jobs are suddenly looking a lot more appealing in this economy. People who have been out of work for months are lining up for jobs at places they once considered unthinkable: slaughterhouses, sewage plants, prisons.

“I have to just shut my mouth because I can’t do anything about it,” said Nichole McRoberts of Sedalia, Mo., who pictured more for herself at age 30 than working in a poultry plant, cutting diseased or damaged flesh off chicken carcasses.

Recessions and tight job markets always force some people to take less-desirable or lower-paying work than they are used to. But this recession has been the most punishing job destroyer in at least 60 years, slashing a net total of 6.7 million jobs.

All told, 14.5 million people were out of work last month, with a jobless rate of 9.4 percent. The result is that many people have had to seek jobs they would not have considered in the past.

Take Kristen Thompson. Before the recession, she worked at an upscale Los Angeles-area gym arranging pricey one-on-one personal training sessions. Now she’s a guard at a women’s prison in rural Wyoming.

Nobody wants to end up in this situation. Obviously, if you’re out of work, you have to start expanding your options. Hopefully we’ll start to see a rebound so this won’t be necessary, but many will have to deal with these realities for some time.

Looking forward, however, you should be making plans that will minimize the chances that you’ll be facing these tough decisions in the future.