In the week ending May 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 340,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 363,000. The 4-week moving average was 339,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week’s revised average of 340,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending May 11, unchanged from the prior week’s revised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 11 was 2,912,000, a decrease of 112,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,024,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,995,250, a decrease of 23,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,019,000.

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via ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report.

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Jobless Claims in U.S. Decreased More Than Forecast Last Week 

Fewer Americans than projected filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the job market is sustaining recent gains…

Falling dismissals could lay the groundwork for a hiring pickup should the economy be able to overcome the federal budget cuts that are projected to curb the expansion. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke yesterday said the job market is still weak, one reason why policy makers will continue buying bonds in a bid to keep interest rates low and spur growth.

“Some of the encouraging news on the economy has been initial claims, they haven’t made a definitive move higher,” said Ryan Sweet, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “The hiring has been the missing piece.”

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via Jobless Claims in U.S. Decreased More Than Forecast Last Week – Bloomberg.

Ford Australia chief executive Bob Graziano made the announcement as he revealed a loss of 141 million Australian dollars ($136 million) after tax in the last financial year, with losses of 600 million Australian dollars over the last five years.

“Unfortunately we will cease our manufacturing operations in October 2016. As a result, approximately 1,200 jobs will become redundant when those sites close,” he said.

Mr Graziano said the decision was the result of local manufacturing being “driven by increasingly challenging market conditions — including market fragmentation and the high cost of manufacturing”.

The jobs will go at Ford’s Broadmeadows and Geelong manufacturing plants in Victoria state, which will close.

“We know this announcement is very difficult, especially for our employees,” Mr Graziano said .

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via Ford to cut 1,200 jobs, stop production in Australia – NDTVProfit.com.

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Ford / More Jobs And Vacations Skipped

Pent-up demand for new vehicles, along with a rebounding economy and a surging stock market, is bringing car buyers out in droves. On Wednesday, Ford Motor said it will add an additional 200,000 units of annual capacity this year — almost the equivalent of opening another assembly plant in North America. The extra capacity at … Continue reading »

But now some are questioning whether that is enough. The big problem in a suburb such as Husby, where immigrants represent about 80 percent of the population, is unemployment, particularly among the young. Swedish youth unemployment stands at 25.1 percent, about triple the level of overall joblessness. And much of that youth unemployment is concentrated among immigrants from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria.

“Sweden isn’t that different to other countries when it comes to problems of integration in larger cities where we have these suburbs with a lot of unemployment,” says Per Adman, an associate professor at Uppsala university. He points out that the media often refers to “unemployed young men” without specifying that they are predominantly immigrants.

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via Stockholm riots raise questions about immigration policy – The Washington Post.

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• BBC News – Stockholm restaurant torched as riots spread
• Stockholm Riots Continue for Third Night – WSJ.com.
• Stockholm riots spreading, youths burn down cultural centre – The Globe and Mail.

With the official data on labor markets infrequent — and, in some cases, misleading — alternative indicators take on an added significance. China Real Time took advantage of China’s glut of recent graduates to have an unpaid intern find the best guides to the state of hiring and firing.

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via Seeking Help — For China’s Labor Market – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

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China / Jobless fears as record 6.99 million graduates hit market

A record 6.99 million students – an increase of 190,000 compared to last year – will graduate from China’s higher education institutions this year. But graduate unemployment, a scourge in recent years, shows no sign of easing for the class of 2013. Local media in a number of Chinese regions have been declaring 2013 as … Continue reading »

China / What’s going on in its labor markets

Understanding unemployment and wage growth are crucial for understanding developments in the world’s second largest economy, not to mention the future price of everything from Nike sneakers to Apple iPhones. The official data is improving, with new information on migrant worker and private sector wages. But it remains scarce and in some cases unreliable, especially … Continue reading »

The call was made by Manwu general secretary Justina Jonas at a press conference at Ongwediva yesterday.

According to Jonas, Manwu has noted that there are many construction projects in progress and she expressed concern that many companies are still not paying the workers the correct wages as stipulated in the Government Gazette.

“This is a violation of the law and we urge the Ministry of Labour to assist us to do a national inspection at all construction sites to ensure that workers are paid correct wages and that all health and safety standards are adhered to,” Jonas said and added that Manwu and CIF concluded wage negotiations in the construction industry for the next two years, where both parties agreed on nine percent for 2013 and 9.5 percent for 2014.

“We urge the construction employers, especially here in the north, to immediately start complying with the minimum wage agreement and not wait to be confronted by Manwu,” Jonas said.

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via allAfrica.com: Namibia: Companies Urged to Pay Minimum Wage.

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Vietnam / Minimum wage needs to be increased

For decades Vietnam has failed to set a minimum wage that provides enough for people to live on, officials said at a meeting Friday. Vietnam’s minimum wage only meets between 50 and 70 percent of the cost of people’s basic needs, officials said at the conference held by the National Assembly’s Social Issues Committee to … Continue reading »

ndia / Minimum wages increase

The Delhi Government has decided to implement the revised rates of minimum wages for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled categories in all scheduled employments, Labour Minister A.K. Walia said on Monday. The new rates, which have been worked out after adjustment of dearness allowances, have come into effect from April 1, 2013 and will extend to … Continue reading »

China / 8 provinces and cities have adjusted their minimum wage levels in 2013

Shenzhen has raised its monthly minimum wage levels by RMB100 to RMB1,600 from March 1, 2013, while its hourly minimum wages have been adjusted from RMB13.3 to RMB14.5. This news comes after Guangdong Province recently announced wage hikes of nearly 20 percent that would have seen Guangzhou overtake Shenzhen as the city with the highest monthly minimum …Continue reading »

Jordan / Significant numbers not paid minimum wage

A significant number of workers are paid less than the minimum wage, with 1.4 per cent of the workforce earning less than JD100 ($141) a month, the Department of Statistics (DoS) said on Tuesday. According to a recent DoS study that covered 2012, 12.4 per cent of working Jordanians get less than JD200 ($282) a … Continue reading »

According to the research from business psychology company Robertson Cooper, productivity levels for employees who feel ill drops from 75% on ‘normal days’ to 55% on ‘sick days’.

The study also shows the ‘top sources of stress’ have changed between 2007-2010 and 2011-2013.

In 2007-2010, the number one cause of stress was ‘too much change in the workplace’, with 38% of people agreeing this was the case. However, in 2011-2013 the top concern for individuals was ‘not having enough time to do their job’ (33%).

Professor Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University and founder of Robertson Cooper, said: “Our data shows people are experiencing new levels and sources of stress at work and this has lead to a culture whereby certain individuals are too afraid to be off sick.

“It’s a vicious circle that leads to presenteeism, rather than absenteeism, and lower productivity. Crucially, this lower productivity fuels the new top source of stress, which is not having enough time to complete their job. On any given day, there could be hundreds of thousands of people at work who are there in body, but not in spirit.”

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via HR Magazine – Stress and presenteeism “sapping UK productivity”, says research.

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Stress at Work / The Top 10 Most Stressful and Least Stressful Jobs

The least stressful jobs  1. University Professor  Median salary: $62,050 2. Seamstress/Tailor Median salary: $25,850 3. Medical Records Technician Median salary: $32,350 4. Jeweler Median salary: $35,170 5. Medical Laboratory Technician Median salary: $46,680 6. Audiologist Median salary: $66,660 7. Dietitian Median salary: $53,250 8. Hair Stylist Median salary: $22,500 9. Librarian Median salary: $54,500 10. Drill Press Operator Median salary: $31,910 MOST STRESSFUL … Continue reading »

Facebook / Users who have recently lost a job feel greater stress

Among those who have recently lost a job, social networksin general and online ones in particular may be useful to cope with stress and find new employment write Moira Burke and Robert Kraut in Using Facebook after Losing a Job: Differential Benefits of Strong and Weak Ties on thoughtcrumbs.com. (Adapted choosen excerpts by JMM to follow) The study focuses on …Continue reading »

US | Workers Least Satisfied With Stress and Pay

U.S. workers are the least satisfied with their on-the-job stress and money they make, out of 13 aspects of work conditions rated in Gallup’s annual Work and Education poll. Fewer than a third say they are completely satisfied with each. They are most satisfied with the physical safety conditions of their workplace, followed by their … Continue reading »

“The loss of output and earnings associated with high unemployment … reduces government revenues and increases spending on income-support programs, thereby leading to larger budget deficits and higher levels of public debt than would otherwise occur,” Bernanke said.

Instead of doing anything about unemployment, which hovers at 7.5 percent four years after the end of the Great Recession, Congress and the White House have spent the past two years finding diabolically creative new ways to slash government spending. That has worsened the unemployment crisis, making Bernanke’s job harder.

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via Bernanke Tells Congress Fighting Unemployment Is A Better Cure For Government Debt Than Austerity.

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The New Fed Unemployment Target: The story behind

The decision was a testament to what former colleagues call Evans’s ability to build consensus. It also shows how one of the Fed’s 12 regional bank presidents can influence policy that is usually made by the central bank’s Washington-based board of governors, led by Bernanke. “Through the power of his ideas and his powers of … Continue reading »

Unless employers can understand this, they’ll risk losing their top talent, says Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and author of the new book “Promote Yourself.”

Schawbel’s Gen Y research and consulting company conducted a recent survey with oDesk, a global job marketplace, and found that freedom-seeking young people have their own definition of “entrepreneurship.”

“The number one reason why [Gen Y employees] leave is a lack of career opportunities,” Schawbel tells us. “If you can’t show them a path up, if you’re not going to mentor and support them, they’re out.”

In the interview @ Business Insider, Schawbel tells us about Gen Y’s definition of entrepreneurship, how companies can retain their young talent and create a culture that attracts young people and makes them want to stay there.

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via Gen Y’s Impact on the Future of Work – Business Insider.

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Gen Y / The largest generation in American history in the cradle

The nearly 3.7 million American babies born in 1982 weren’t special, except to their families. But in the eyes of demographers, they were categorically different from the 3.6 million Americans born in 1981. They were the first members of a new club: Generation Y. This so-called millennial cohort, the largest generation in American history, landed … Continue reading »

As a chill wind swept paper and trash across a grimy sidewalk, Angelos Tzortzinis, a Greek photographer, caught sight of Maria lowering her price to the equivalent of about $6.50. Maria, who would only give a pseudonym, had hoped to get some money for food — and for a cheap but dangerous new street drug that has emerged during Greece’s crisis, guaranteed to obliterate her sorrows, if only for a moment.

With the country heading into the fifth year of economic depression, and unemployment near 60 percent for young people, greater numbers of women and men are offering their bodies for next to nothing to get any scrap of money. According to the National Center for Social Research, the number of people selling sex has surged 150 percent in the last two years.

Source: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/societal-ills-spike-in-crisis-stricken-greece/?hp

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via Angelos Tzortzinis’s Photos of Growing Desperation in Greece – NYTimes.com.