More mothers in the United States are staying home, but the increase is linked more to unemployment and demographic changes than to choice, a study published Tuesday suggested. In 2012, nearly one in three mothers, or 29 percent, did not work outside the home, up from 23 percent in 1999, said the study from the … Continue reading
Statistics Canada released the first data from the new National Graduates’ Survey. To put it mildly, this new data blows both of those narratives out of the water. The NGS is designed to report on the fate of graduates two years after graduation. What was released last week was the 2012 employment and income situation … Continue reading
The number of job openings in the U.S. recently hit the highest level in more than six years, a trend that could precede faster employment growth in coming months, according to a Tuesday analyst note. There were 4.17 million job openings in February -– the most since January 2008 — up 4% from a year … Continue reading
One of the big questions concerning the U.S. jobs market is how many jobs need to be created to reach full employment? Without knowing that, it’s hard to determine when the nation’s economy will have finally recovered. Figuring out that number is complicated by several uncertainties, including just how many people need jobs and how … Continue reading
Canadians who study medicine, even at the best medical schools in the world, face barriers and prejudice when they seek to return home to work in B.C. and rejoin their families. The government has allowed universities, instead of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, to choose who is granted entry-level training jobs as resident … Continue reading
Cuban authorities say they have eliminated more than 100,000 jobs in health care, considered one of the “pillars” of the 1959 revolution. The cuts come as President Raul Castro tries to streamline government as part of a broader economic reform package. The weekly labor newspaper Trabajadores said Monday that 109,000 health care positions have been … Continue reading
The point is that influential people move in circles in which repeating the skills-gap story — or, better yet, writing about skill gaps in media outlets like Politico — is a badge of seriousness, an assertion of tribal identity. And the zombie shambles on. Unfortunately, the skills myth — like the myth of a looming … Continue reading
The Senate approved a bipartisan unemployment benefits extension Monday, with six Republicans joining Senate Democrats to clear the measure. The measure passed 59 to 38 with all Democrats in attendance voting for the bill. The five Republicans who helped negotiate the measure — Susan Collins of Maine, Dean Heller of Nevada, Mark S. Kirk of … Continue reading
Intel’s Costa Rican unit will lay off some 1,500 employees and move its manufacturing operations to Vietnam, according to reports. The layoffs would represent more than half of its total staff in the country. According to reports, the US chip manufacturer will retain some 1,200 workers in Costa Rica, mostly working in its service operations. … Continue reading
Businesses seeking highly skilled workers from overseas took less than a week to snap up all 85,000 visas available for next year. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Monday that the cap on H-1B visas for the 2015 fiscal year had already been reached. The agency began accepting applications April 1 for the highly … Continue reading
Last month, I was very fortunate to be included in a study tour of the German dual-system of education and training led by Minister Kenney. He invited CFIB and several other provincial, business and union officials to look at Germany’s successes in vocational training and to determine if there are any lessons for Canada. To … Continue reading
The unemployment rate for Americans with disabilities is up slightly as more people seek work, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday. The jobless rate for those with disabilities rose to 14.5 percent in March, up from 14.3 percent the month prior. Despite the uptick, however, the Labor Department said that more individuals in this … Continue reading
A significant decline in the participation rate had been expected, and probably half or more of the recent decline in the participation rate was due to changing demographics (and long term trends), as opposed to economic weakness. A few key long terms trends include: • A decline in participation for those in the 16 to … Continue reading
Key economic indicators seem to point toward Korea making a solid recovery. The country’s output has been growing thanks to exports. Its consumer spending has picked up on the back of growing welfare financing by the government. Still, Asia’s fourth-largest economy is finding it hard to create jobs for college graduates, even while they pull … Continue reading
Employment increased by 43,000 in March, driven by gains among youths. The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 6.9%. Overall employment growth in Canada has been subdued since August 2013. Compared with March 2013, the number of people working rose by 190,000. Over this 12-month period, employment and the number of hours worked grew at the same pace, that is 1.1%. Chart 1 Employment In … Continue reading