Author: Staff (Page 45 of 62)

      Unemployment drops to 8.5%

      January 6, 2012 /

      Slowly but surely, we’re starting to see a rebound in the US economy. Manufacturing is picking up, consumers are spending more and companies are starting to hire. The unemployment rate has now dropped to 8.5% after the economy added 200,000 jobs in December.

      The jobs report builds on a several new indicators pointing toward an economy on the upswing.

      The government reported Thursday that claims for unemployment benefits declined in the final week of December, moving the average over the past four weeks to its lowest level in more than three years.

      The Institute for Supply Management reported this week that its employment index for December was 55.1, the highest reading since June. A reading above 50 means that more companies are creating jobs than cutting them.

      The nation’s factories have added more than 300,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010 — about 13 percent of what was lost during the recession — marking the first sustained increase in manufacturing employment since 1997, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

      Auto sales in December were up, continuing their substantial improvement from the summer. And for all of 2011, vehicle sales rose 10 percent.

      The auto numbers are critical. For example, Chrysler sales keep increasing and the company is adding jobs.

      The economy has added jobs for 15 consecutive months so there is reason for continued optimism.

      If you’ve been out of work and have given up, go back and start looking again.

      Your Career

      How to publish your own e-book

      December 31, 2011 /

      The publishing industry is going through a revolution, as e-books are making it easy for anyone to get published. If you’re a writer or you’ve though about writing a book, your best option still might be getting a well-known publisher interested in your book. But we all know that this can be incredibly difficult.

      But now it’s very easy to write a book and have it self-published as an e-book. Amazon and Barnes & Noble make it very easy to do this on your own and sell it through their online stores.

      Here are some articles to help you through the process:

      The NY Times has a helpful how to article for e-books.

      The 4-Hour Work Week guy has a great article on this subject.

      Mashable.com discusses CreateSpace, and CNET covers the same topic.

      Do your research and you’ll find the best option for you. It can be very profitable, and it can also launch other careers like public speaking.

      Your Career

      Unemployment falls in the states

      December 20, 2011 /

      The good economic news continues.

      Unemployment rates fell in 43 states in November, the most states to report such declines in eight years.

      The falling state rates reflect the brightening jobs picture nationally. The U.S. unemployment rate fell sharply in November to 8.6%, lowest since March 2009. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row — first time that’s happened since 2006, before the Great Recession.

      Only three states reported higher unemployment rates in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Four showed no change.

      Other good news today came in the form of housing starts. People aren’t buying home so many people are renting. Now the construction market is responding as more apartment buildings are going to be built. This might be good news for construction workers around the country.

      Your Career

      GOP wants unemployment drug testing

      December 16, 2011 /

      In another attempt to blame workers for our weak economy that was triggered by massive abuses and fraud on Wall Street, Republicans in Congress are now trying to tie unemployment benefits to drug testing.

      During a debate on the floor of the House of Representatives this week, Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) suggested the unemployed can’t find jobs because of their own bad decisions.

      “I have been back in my district, and we do town halls all the time,” Reed said. “And what I’ve heard from small business owners across our district is that one of the main reasons that they cannot hire individuals is because they simply cannot pass a drug test.”

      This year more than ever, Republicans have brought up again and again the topic of unemployed people using drugs. Lawmakers in a dozen state legislatures pursued jobless drug testing bills in 2011, according to the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, in an unprecedented flurry of legislative activity on the issue. But a major obstacle to those proposals is that federal law does not allow states to deny unemployment benefits for reasons not related to the circumstances of a person’s unemployment — though 20 states do have laws disqualifying workers from receiving benefits if they’re fired for a drug-related reason.

      The legislation percolating through the states culminated in Congress, where Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday to allow states to do all the drug testing they want. NASWA director Rich Hobbie, who’s worked in the unemployment insurance field since 1975, said it’s the first time a bill to drug test the unemployed has made it so far. The fate of the provision is currently in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has said he finds it ridiculous.

      The War on Drugs has been an abject failure, but these idiots want to expand it. How pathetic.

      Drug testing in the workplace makes sense where safety is an issue. Other than that it’s an invasion of privacy. These people call themselves conservatives, but they just want to impose their own version of the nanny state.

      Your Career, Your Workplace

      Jobless claims continue downward trend

      December 15, 2011 /

      Are we finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel?

      Last month the unemployment rate dipped to 8.6%, and now we continue to see better numbers as it relates to weekly jobless claims.

      The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in three-and-a-half years last week, the latest indication that a weak labor market is improving.

      Initial jobless claims fell by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000 in the week ended Dec. 10, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast claims would climb by 9,000 to 390,000.

      “This is unexpectedly great news,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. “If claims can remain at this level, payroll growth will strengthen markedly within a month or so.”

      For the week ended Dec. 3, claims were revised up slightly to 385,000 from an originally reported 381,000. Still, new claims have fallen by 19,000 two weeks in a row.

      The four-week moving average of new jobless claims, closely watched by economists because it smooths out volatile weekly data, dropped last week by 6,500 to 387,750. That is the lowest level since July 2008.

      The four-week average has remained below 400,000 for five consecutive weeks, one sign the economy is adding more jobs than it is shedding.

      If you’ve been looking for a job but have become discouraged, now is the time to get back out there and redouble your efforts. The economy has some momentum, and economic optimism is returning. Right now Europe seems like the most important headwind for economic growth, but conditions here at home are getting better. Car sales are improving and that is one of the factors driving economic activity.

      Your Career

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