Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
Chinese overseas students / 72 percent are unable to find long-term jobs overseas
Sophia Su, who will graduate with a master’s degree in communication from Michigan State University this year, seems relaxed, even though almost all of her classmates are anxious about their next destination after graduation. “I know how hard the US employment situation is for foreign students this year, so I found myself another way out … Continue reading
US Skills Gap / Builders can’t find enough qualified workers
U.S. builders and the subcontractors they depend on are struggling to hire fast enough to meet rising demand for new homes. Builders would be starting work on more homes — and contributing more to the economy — if they could fill more job openings. In the meantime, workers in the right locations with the right … Continue reading
Only Austria, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland have youth unemployment rates below 10 percent
Low wages and a lack of available jobs are plaguing the EUs young and educated. Greece’s 15-24 year olds are facing unprecedented levels of unemployment, while Portugal is witnessing a mass exodus as endemic joblessness drives its youth abroad. The UN labor office predicts a global rise in unemployment of 12.8 percent by 2018. Across … Continue reading
Colorado and Washington / Cuts to unemployment benefits
Coloradans receiving unemployment benefits as part of a federal extension are beginning to see an 18.2 percent reduction in compensation as a result of the across-the-board U.S. government spending cuts. The cuts apply specifically to federal extensions known as Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC), which is a tiered system for paying the unemployed once their state … Continue reading
Canada / Employment was little changed – the unemployment rate remained at 7.2%.
Following a decline the previous month, employment was little changed in April and the unemployment rate remained at 7.2%. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment increased 0.9% or 163,000, all in full time. The total number of hours worked rose by 1.5% over the same period. Chart 1 Employment Provincially, employment grew in Alberta, while it fell in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Newfoundland … Continue reading
Florida / The ‘Initial Skills Review’ (SLIDESHOW)
In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed a law slashing the duration of jobless aid and making Florida the first state to require unemployment claimants to answer a series of basic math and reading questions. Answering a certain number of questions correctly isn’t necessary to be eligible for benefits, but claimants have to get through … Continue reading
(Update2) Bangladesh Garment Factory Collapsed Building / Toll has passed 1,000
The death toll from Bangladesh’s worst industrial accident has passed 1,000 as recovery teams continue to find more bodies in the wreckage. The eight-storey Rana Plaza factory building near Dhaka collapsed on 24 April with an unknown number inside. The authorities say about 2,500 people were injured in the accident and 2,437 people were rescued. … Continue reading
Australia / 50,100 jobs added unemployment down
The unemployment rate has confounded most economists by falling from 5.6 to 5.5 per cent. The Bureau of Statistics labour force survey estimates that 50,100 jobs were added in April, with 34,500 full-time positions and 15,600 part-time jobs created. Economist forecasts in a survey by Bloomberg centred on only 11,000 jobs being created which was … Continue reading
Lloyds / To slash another 850 jobs
The latest cull means the bailed-out banking giant has axed more than 30,000 jobs since 2008, according to the union. The new round of cutbacks includes 690 jobs which are expected to go with the closure of a large office in Southend, Essex. The remainder are going in its commercial and insurance operations. Chosen excerpts … Continue reading
India / A “demographic dividend” ?
ONE of India’s bigger private-sector employers can be found in Patna, the capital of Bihar, a poor, populous state in the east of the country. Narendra Kumar Singh, the boss, has three gold rings on his right hand and arms big enough to crush rocks. His firm, Frontline, has 86,000 people on its books. They … Continue reading
New York Post / 10-percent staff reduction
The New York Post is offering voluntary buyouts to newsroom employees, editor-in-chief Col Allan informed the staff today in a memo obtained by Capital. The paper is aiming to reduce its headcount by 10 percent through the buyout packages, which will be discussed today with eligible employees. Allan also indicated the paper could achieve the … Continue reading
US / Jobless Claims at Lowest Level since January 2008
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to its lowest level in nearly 5-1/2 years last week, signaling labor market resilience in the face of fiscal austerity. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department said on … Continue reading
Electronic Arts / Layoffs Hit 10 Percent of Workforce
So, those “hard but essential changes” and “difficult organizational decisions” Electronic Arts announced back in late April, but refused to explain in detail? It did so last night during its fourth-quarter earnings call, and they’re not pretty. Since announcing that organizational update on April 25, EA has sacked 10 percent of its workforce, CFO Blake … Continue reading
US / Students “deserve the same break that big banks get” says Elizabeth Warren
“The U.S. government invests in big banks by giving them a great deal on their interest rates,” freshman Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in an interview with Salon on Wednesday afternoon (the transcript of which is below). “We should make at least the same investment in our students.” Warren was discussing the first bill she has introduced … Continue reading
Greece / Youth unemployment over 64 per cent
Greece’s jobless rate rose to 27 percent in February from a downwardly revised 26.7 percent in January, the country’s statistics service ELSTAT said on Thursday. It was the highest reading since the statistics service began publishing jobless data in 2006 and more than twice the euro zone’s average reading of 12.1 percent in March, reflecting … Continue reading
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