Dec. 1, 2010 at 10:49 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Jobs/employment
By Reuters
U.S. private sector payrolls rose by the biggest amount in three years in November, lifting optimism about the job market ahead of Friday’s key employment report, while manufacturing data showed growth was intact.
U.S. private employers added a stronger-than-forecast 93,000 jobs in November, the biggest rise since November 2007, after an upwardly revised gain of 82,000 the month before, data by ADP Employer Services, which jointly developed the report with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, showed Wednesday. Get the full story »
Nov. 30, 2010 at 5:20 p.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs,
Pharmaceuticals
By Associated Press
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.
Nov. 30, 2010 at 1:44 p.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs,
Policy,
Politics
By Kathy Bergen
While the U.S. economy will grow at a modest clip in 2011, housing prices likely will languish and unemployment will remain high, according to forecasts by University of Chicago Booth School of Business professors at a luncheon presentation today.
Growth in the gross domestic product could reach 3.4 percent, exceeding the consensus of economic forecasters, according to economics professor Randall Kroszner, who was a governor of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 to 2009.
“I don’t agree with those who say we are in an extended period of low growth, but we are unlikely to have a powerful recovery either,” he said. Get the full story »
Nov. 30, 2010 at 11:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Energy,
Jobs/employment
By Reuters
The Chevy Volt. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
General Motors said on Tuesday it would hire 1,000 engineers and researchers in Michigan over the next two years to develop more electric cars and hybrids as it launched its battery-powered Chevrolet Volt.
“Volt clearly demonstrates that we are well on our way and it is especially true when it comes to the electrification of the automobile,” GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson said at a ceremony marking the start of production of the plug-in hybrid.
The Volt, which tops the Toyota Prius for fuel economy, is a first-of-its-kind vehicle that GM has touted as a symbol of its commitment to pushing for gains in fuel efficiency and developing new technology. Get the full story »
Nov. 30, 2010 at 9:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Jobs/employment,
Policy
By Kathy Bergen
A view of Istanbul, Turkey at night. Cities like Istanbul are rebounding from the recession faster than U.S. ones. (Steve Brandt/Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT)
Major American and European cities, from New York and Chicago to London and Paris, are pulling out of the Great Recession at slower rates than cities in Asia and Latin America, according to a study released this morning by the Brookings Institution and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
In fact, the recession served to accelerate a shift in economic growth to emerging metro areas that has gone on for many years, the report found.
The first Global MetroMonitor study ranked 150 metro areas on their growth in employment and economic output per person, before, during and after the global downturn. Twenty-nine of the 30 top performers post-recession were outside the U.S. and Europe, while 28 of the 30 weakest performers were in those two global regions. Get the full story »
Nov. 30, 2010 at 7:41 a.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs
From the Chicago Sun-Times | A stimulus program that has given job training and work experience to 26,000 low-income Illinoisans will end today unless Congress extends its funding. Gov. Quinn extended the “Put Illinois to Work” program for two months past its original Sept. 30 expiration date by allocating $75 million in state money on Sept. 29. Get the full story >>
Nov. 29, 2010 at 10:54 a.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Policy,
Politics
By Associated Press
President Barack Obama will announce a two-year pay freeze for federal employees that the White House says is necessary to put the country on sound fiscal footing.
Nov. 29, 2010 at 9:24 a.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs,
Mortgages,
Real estate
By Kathy Bergen
Mortgage-related jobs slid in the third quarter, with the biggest net losses occurring in Maryland, Illinois and Oregon, according to an index published by MortgageDaily.com.
With 3,216 layoffs and 2,286 hires, the net loss was 930 jobs. For the first three quarters of the year, there has been a net gain of 524 jobs.
This flattening comes after a modest rebound last year, following two years of dramatic job losses. In 2005, more than half a million people worked in mortgage lending, and less than half are left now, MortgageDaily.com reports. Get the full story »
Nov. 24, 2010 at 1:15 p.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs
By Associated Press
The Illinois Department of Employment Security is reporting unemployment in all the state’s metropolitan areas fell in October.
The agency reported Wednesday the metro area showing the largest decline in unemployment was Peoria, down 2.4 points to 9.3 percent, with Chicago-Joliet-Naperville 1.5 points lower at 8.9 percent. Rockford was 1.4 points lower at 14.4 percent, and Decatur 1.4 points lower at 10.9 percent. Get the full story »
Nov. 24, 2010 at 8:17 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs
By Associated Press
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to the lowest level since July 2008, a hopeful sign that improvement in the job market is accelerating.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that weekly unemployment claims dropped by 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 407,000 in the week ending Nov. 20. Wall Street analysts expected a much smaller drop. Get the full story>>
Nov. 23, 2010 at 12:22 p.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment,
Labor,
Litigation
By Becky Yerak
A 46-year-old Chicago man who lost his server job at Weber Grill on State Street last year alleges that a 30-year-old restaurant manager fired him because she thought he was “too old for the fast pace of the restaurant.”
Bruce Belson alleges in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in a federal court in Chicago that he was terminated in January 2009 after about nine months of working at the 539 N. State St. restaurant. Get the full story »
Nov. 23, 2010 at 11:06 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Jobs/employment,
Labor
By Associated Press
Businesses and other employers added jobs in 41 states in October, the best showing in five months, the Labor Department said Tuesday.
The figures indicate the job market is picking up a bit in most parts of the country. Even the nation’s hardest hit states – Nevada and Michigan — showed declines in their unemployment rates. Get the full story »
Nov. 18, 2010 at 1:34 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Jobs/employment
By Reuters
An effort to continue assistance for millions of jobless people who will see their benefits run out in coming weeks failed in the House Thursday.
By a vote of 258 to 154, the proposal to extend jobless benefits for three months fell short of the two-thirds margin needed to pass the House under special rules that limit debate. Get the full story »
Nov. 18, 2010 at 1:29 p.m.
Filed under:
Insurance,
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs
By Bruce Japsen
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois said Thursday that it will cut more than 90 jobs in its Chicago-based individual policy business as part of an ongoing companywide consolidation plan.
The company said 92 jobs at its Chicago facility would be affected by spring of 2011. However, the company said, 75 will be added to its Hallmark Services Corp. subsidiary in Naperville and another 11 will be added to a facility in Abilene, Texas. Get the full story »
By Reuters
In this Sept. 20, 2010 photograph, people attend a job fair at a hotel in Boston. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
New U.S. claims for jobless benefits barely rose last week and manufacturing activity in the country’s Mid-Atlantic region touched a near one-year high in November, more proof the economy was regaining momentum.
The improving economic picture also was enhanced by another report on Thursday showing a gauge of future activity increased 0.5 percent in October.
However, the data are not robust enough to deter the Federal Reserve from fully implementing its much criticized program to purchase $600 billion worth of government debt to push already low interest rates down to stimulate the economy. Get the full story »
