A new report finds that the main culprit is the state’s insufficient rate of higher education. In Pennsylvania, 38.6 percent of the state’s nearly 6.7 million working-age adults hold at least a two-year degree, according to the 2010 Census data. In Somerset County that is only 24.75 percent…. “Help Wanted,” a report by the Georgetown … Continue reading
According to federal figures, there were nearly 3.5 million job openings in the U.S. in February. About 700,000 of them were in the West. With nearly 262,000 Arizonans looking for work, why don’t the jobs and the prospective workers match up? In everyday terms, the economy needs more software programmers and physical therapists and skilled … Continue reading
The “official” unemployment rate ticked down to 8.2% in March, and the actual unemployment rate ticked down to 14.8%. That’s nice. Except for the fact that people who are willing & capable of working are leaving the workforce en masse… The number of people not in the labor force is now at an all time … Continue reading
The causes of the Great Recession were similar to the Great Depression – as opposed to most post war recessions that were caused by Fed tightening to slow inflation – and I’m frequently asked if we could compare the percent job losses during the two periods. Unfortunately there is very little data for the Great … Continue reading
Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of The Hamilton Project – Brookings Institute examine the progressivity of the U.S. tax code and highlight two facts: the current U.S. tax system is less progressive than the tax systems of other industrialized countries, and considerably less progressive today than it was just a few decades ago. The figure below shows how much … Continue reading
The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, making the past three years the longest stretch of high unemployment in this country since the Great Depression. CBO projects that the unemployment rate will remain above 8 percent until 2014. The share of unemployed people who have been looking … Continue reading
Three weeks ago, President Barack Obama stood in front of a sea of gleaming solar panels in Boulder City, Nevada, to celebrate his administration’s efforts to promote “green energy.” Stretching row upon row into the desert, the Copper Mountain Solar Project not far from Las Vegas provided an impressive backdrop for the president. Built on … Continue reading
Tech-related jobs in the U.S. have recovered back to their pre-recession levels, with total people employed in IT above 4 million again, according to data in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ surveys of U.S. households in the first quarter of this year. U.S. IT employment is at an estimated 4.04 million, according to the first … Continue reading
THREE hundred jobs are to be created after BT announced that it is to open a new call centre in Accrington. The new call centre will be based at the Globe Centre, in St James Square. It comes after US-based outsourcing company Sitel, which handles online holiday bookings for Expedia, announced six months ago it … Continue reading
Shifting federal policies and a lack of skilled workers in the state labor market are among the largest impediments to hiring, representatives from the manufacturing industry said at a summit in Portsmouth on Wednesday. Representatives from Foss Manufacturing in Hampton, Laars Heating Systems Company in Rochester and firearms manufacturer SIG Sauer, which is currently … Continue reading
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT – SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending April 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 380,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 367,000. The 4-week moving average was 368,500, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 364,250. … Continue reading
Despite the popular belief that Baby Boomers will continue to work well past the traditional retirement age of 65, those born in 1946 are retiring in droves, according to Transitioning into Retirement: The MetLife Study of Baby Boomers at 65. This study is a follow–up to the 2008 MetLife Mature Market Institute study, Boomer Bookends: … Continue reading
Americans at the top and bottom of the income scale are benefiting most from the jobs recovery while those in the middle are getting left behind. Employees making above-average wages, like doctors and energy-industry workers, and those at the other extreme, including home-health aides and restaurant staff, have seen outsized gains in hiring since the … Continue reading
The booming Chinese economy means that technology firms – particularly e-commerce companies – are struggling to find skilled candidates and managers to help fuel that growth. The latest Salary and Employment Forecast from international recruitment company Michael Page shows that there is strong growth in demand for technology professionals across sectors such as finance and retail, … Continue reading
More than 12 million Americans are out of work, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Looking for a job similar to the one that was lost can be a frustrating and futile exercise, but an employment program in the northeastern state of New Hampshire gives the unemployed a chance to try out jobs they … Continue reading