Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
US – Long-term unemployment continues to plague the labor market
Of all the mediocre and bad news in the June 2012 employment situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is one item that deserves serious concern: the fact that long-term unemployment continues to plague the labor market. The average duration of unemployment is stuck at about 40 weeks, where it has been for … Continue reading
Interview Questions – 3 Must and Why
Interviewing job candidates is tough, especially because some candidates are a lot better at interviewing than they are at working. To get the core info you need about the candidates you interview, here’s a simple but incredibly effective interview technique I learned from John Younger, the CEO of Accolo, a cloud recruiting solutions provider. (If … Continue reading
High Long-Term Unemployment not only bad for the economy, it’s bad for our bodies and souls as well
Our persistently high unemployment rate is not only bad for the economy, it’s bad for our bodies and souls as well. Unemployment wears down the unemployed both mentally and physically. But high unemployment also hurts those with jobs, as some workers worry endlessly (and not without justification) that they too could be let go at … Continue reading
(UPDATE) UK – The number of unemployed fell by 65,000, record numbers of pensioners working and youth long-term unemployment at all-time high
For March to May 2012: The employment rate for those aged from 16 to 64 was 70.7 per cent, up 0.3 on the quarter. There were 29.35 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 181,000 on the quarter. The unemployment rate was 8.1 per cent of the economically active population, down 0.2 on the … Continue reading
Unemployment: Lessons from history
Stumbling and Mumbling chart below puts today’s unemployment data into long-term historical perspective. Using Bank of England data, it shows the unemployment rate since 1855. What stands out here is that a highish rate of joblessness is quite normal. It is the 1945-73 period of full employment (for men!) that is historically odd, not today’s … Continue reading
UK – Unemployment falls for the over 65s , yet youth unemployment is now 21.9%
The latest unemployment figures show that the number of over 65s in work has risen by 52,000 to reach 929,000, the highest number since records began in 1992. Yet in the same period, youth unemployment has fallen by just 10,000. (It is now 21.9%, meaning over 1 in 5 under 24s is jobless.) In response … Continue reading
The Facebook Career Fairy Has arrived
Have you ever been frustrated with your career and thought, “Where’s a Career Fairy when you really need one?” Well, that day has come! Post a Career Wish on Facebook and See What Happens CAREEREALISM has retained the services of a well-known Career Fairy, and she is going to be granting wishes in the form … Continue reading
UK – Huge Drop in membership of private pension schemes
The Office for National Statistics has recorded a significant downwards trend in employee membership of private sector defined benefit (DB) schemes – down from 34 per cent in 1997 to 9 per cent in 2011. Overall, employee membership of employer-sponsored pensions in the private sector fell from 46 per cent in 1997 to 32 per cent … Continue reading
Mobile – Airbus plant will put a dent in unemployment, assuming no Skills Gap
The arrival of Airbus in Mobile will make a measurable impact on the city’s economy, enough to render the city, and even the entire state, better bets for lenders, according to a recent report by Moody’s Investor Service, a rating agency. While the company did not officially adjust its investment-grade, Aa2 rating for the city, … Continue reading
UK – How will training budgets change
How have learning and development budgets changed over the past 12 months? Across the whole economy, nearly two-fifths of organisations say their learning and development budget has remained unchanged over the past year. A further three in ten report a decrease, while one in four says it has increased. More than half of respondents from … Continue reading
India – Can economic data be trusted?
Economists and investors say they are finding it increasingly hard. “Market participants are not able to decide what to make of this data,” said Brinda Jagirdar, economist at the State Bank of India. Frequent and sharp revisions in inflation and factory output data—key determinants of monetary policy—have confounded experts in recent months. On Monday, India’s inflation for … Continue reading
America’s Silent Crisis – Single Working Mother
Single mothers are raising more of America’s children than ever before. And for many of them, the economic precipice is creeping closer and closer. For decades the number of single-parent families has climbed higher, with the overwhelming majority of these households led by women. In 1960, just 5 million children under 18 lived with only … Continue reading
Unemployment – What Bernanke said at Congress
…Given that growth is projected to be not much above the rate needed to absorb new entrants to the labor force, the reduction in the unemployment rate seems likely to be frustratingly slow. Indeed, the central tendency of participants’ forecasts now has the unemployment rate at 7 percent or higher at the end of 2014… … Continue reading
Europe – Unemployment – A tragic past
Just like in the 1930s, when the Great Depression caused youth unemployment to hit the 50% levels in Germany, the current financial crisis is wreaking havoc on young people. Young people are always hardest hit due to their lack of work experience. This is now accentuated as the youngster from Athens competes directly against the … Continue reading
President Obama – More Americans have been put on disability than jobs were created
A conservative attorney points out that more Americans have been put on disability than jobs were created during President Obama’s tenure. Since June 2009, the economy has created 2.6 million jobs, while 3.1 million workers signed up for disability benefits. That includes the month of June 2012, when 85,000 workers joined the disability program and … Continue reading
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