Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
Struggling entertainment site MySpace says it is cutting 47 percent of its staff worldwide, or about 500 people.
Mike Jones, the chief executive of MySpace, said in a statement Tuesday that the cuts are “tough but necessary” and have been taken to put the site on a path to growth and profitability. Get the full story »
Even at times of high unemployment in the past, wages have been very slow to fall, but not in this recession. To an extent rarely seen since the Great Depression, wages for a swath of the U.S. labor force this time have taken a sharp and swift fall.
Many laid-off workers who have found new jobs are taking pay cuts or settling for part-time work when they get new ones, sometimes taking jobs far below their skill levels.
Economists had wondered how far this dynamic would go in this recession, and now the numbers are starting to show it: Between 2007 and 2009, more than half the full-time workers who lost jobs that they had held for at least three years and then found new full-time work by early last year reported wage declines, according to the Labor Department. Thirty-six percent reported the new job paid at least 20 percent less than the one they lost. Get the full story »
Employers across the country added a modest 103,000 jobs to their payrolls in December, the government said Friday, closing out the year with a bit of whimper instead of the bang that some economists were expecting.
The Labor Department report, however, showed that the unemployment rate dropped dramatically last month to 9.4 percent, from 9.8 percent in November. The drop was likely due at least in part to statistical adjustments, as the government’s count of unemployed workers fell by 556,000 to 14.5 million. Get the full story »
New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, but a decline in the four-week average to a fresh low in more than two years indicated the labor market improvement remained intact.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 409,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday, above economists’ expectations for 400,000. The prior week’s figure was revised up to 391,000 from the previously reported 388,000. Get the full story »
Urban Partnership Bank, the successor to failed ShoreBank, is telling customers that on March 17 it will close its branches at 4659 S. Cottage Grove in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago and at 3401 S. King Drive in the Bronzeville area of the city.
“With current market conditions making expansion less expensive and real estate more available, we have decided to explore new retail branch locations to better serve our customers,” Urban Partnership said in a letter to customers obtained by the Chicago Tribune.
Urban Partnership said in the letter that it’s “actively seeking new locations” in Chicago and in Cleveland, where it is also closing a branch, “that will be accessible with the latest technologies” and more convenient. Get the full story »
New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits dropped more than expected last week to touch their lowest level in more than two years, suggesting the labor market recovery was gaining strength. Get the full story »
The unemployment rate in Illinois fell to 9.6 percent in November, the eighth consecutive month of improvement. The jobless figure is a smidge below the October rate of 9.8 percent. Get the full story »
TJX Cos. says it is shuttering its A.J. Wright discount stores, cutting 4,400 jobs and converting the stores to other brands such as T.J. Maxx.
According to a company spokeswoman, the Chicago area has 11 A.J. Wright stores now slated for conversion to T.J. Maxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods. Eleven other A.J. Wright stores that will close. Get the full story »
New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week and the four-week moving average hovered at two-year lows, according to a government report on Thursday that revived hopes a labor market recovery was under way.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 421,000, the Labor Department said. Get the full story »
Burger King’s new owners continued their purge of headquarters Monday, dismissing a large number of workers there in an effort to catch-up with McDonald’s in the fast-food wars.
The Miami-based company announced 413 dismissals company-wide, including 261 in South Florida. Most of those jobs came from the No. 2 burger chain’s headquarters. Get the full story »
Here’s a look at how unemployment is hitting people by age and education. No group of people has been spared as the nation’s unemployment rate has climbed to 9.8 percent. The hardest hit: High school drop outs, with a 15.7 percent unemployment rate.
Yet college graduates — which tend to be more immune in recessions — are facing unemployment at the highest levels on record. Unemployment among people with college degrees is 5.1 percent, and business and management positions are being hit.
Job candidates at a World Women in Technology career fair at Chicago's Navy Pier in October. (Tim Boyle/Getty)
In a major setback for the economy, the nation’s jobless rate jumped to 9.8 percent in November as employers added surprisingly few new jobs over the month, the government said Friday.
The unemployment rate had been at 9.6 percent in the prior three months. The increase last month came as employers added just 39,000 jobs in November — a sharp drop-off from a revised 172,000 job gains in October and an average monthly gain of 86,000 this year. Get the full story »
The White House urged Congress Thursday to extend unemployment aid and warned that failure to act would inflict a heavy toll on millions of Americans that could put the U.S. economic recovery at risk.
“Without an extension, employment would be about 600,000 lower…in December 2011 than if a year-long extension were passed,” according to a new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
U.S. unemployment insurance for those on long-term aid, which Congress had already extended to up to 99 weeks from a traditional 26 weeks of support, expired on Wednesday. Get the full story »
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said Tuesday it will eliminate 1,400 U.S. sales jobs by Jan. 1.
The company said it will cut the jobs from the sales force of its general medicines business, as sales at that business will be hurt after the patent on its high blood pressure drug Diovan expires. Novartis said it plans to focus more resources on its primary care and specialty care businesses.
