The October jobs report came as a bit of surprise for analysts who were expecting the government shutdown to severely affect job growth, as the Labor Department announced the economy added a pretty robust 204,000 new jobs in …
Jobs
Friday’s Jobs Report Will Be a Real Bummer
The question is, what does that mean for the markets and Fed stimulus?
Welcome to the World’s Most Potentially Awkward Interview
Trick or treat … or a job offer. Those were among the possibilities at a job fair held on Halloween night, when applicants and hiring managers dressed as Big Bird, the Grim Reaper, and other costumes. And they met in a bowling …
Foroohar: To Compete, America Needs 6-Year High Schools
Back in April of 2012, I wrote a column touting a 6-year high school in Brooklyn as a model for a new kind of secondary education. On Friday, President Obama traveled to New York to visit this same school, the Pathways in …
Jobs Report Tells Us the U.S. Economy Still in Desperate Need of Electroshock
While the attention of the media and lawmakers in Washington has flitted from the recent government shutdown to the troubled rollout of the Obamacare website, today’s jobs numbers offer a stark reminder that the U.S. economy has …
Why California Is Hiking Its Minimum Wage
The Golden State is raising its minimum wage, in part to help younger workers. Nine out of ten California minimum-wage workers are at least 20 years old. The state is raising the minimum wage in stages, and by 2016 it will rise …
Jobless Claims Up Slightly, But Backlog May Be Hiding Improvements
The number of Americans applying for initial jobless benefits increased less than expected last week, offering an encouraging if still muddled sign that gradual growth in employment is continuing, Bloomberg News reports.
The slight uptick in claims was likely made worse by a backlog of applications in California and Nevada, which both …
U.S. Adds 169,000 Jobs in August, But Economic Outlook Remains Gloomy
The Labor Department announced this morning that the American economy added 169,000 jobs in August and that the unemployment remained steady at 7.3%. In addition, it revised job gains in June and July downwards a total of 74,000 …
5 Myths About Living Wage Laws
Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is uncomfortably nestled between a rock and a hard place. Last Friday, the D.C. council sent a bill (The Large Retailer Accountability Act of 2013) to the mayor’s desk that would require large retailers like Walmart and Target to pay its workers a “living wage” of $12.50 per hour — significantly higher …
Long-Term Unemployment: A Weak Link in a Fragile Recovery
The 2008 financial crisis has left us with no shortage of economic problems, but among the most worrisome is the scourge of long-term unemployment. Though the official unemployment rate has fallen from more than 10% in October …
Another Tepid Jobs Report Raises More Questions than it Answers
The Labor Department announced today that the U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in June and that the unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.4%. The feds also said that job growth in April and May was slower …
Amazon’s Hiring Spree Shows Difficulties for American Middle Class
New jobs like those found in Amazon fulfillment centers aren’t an antidote to the weak recovery; they are a symptom of it