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Getco lands NYSE’s options head in hiring spree

Chicago-based Getco LLC hired the New York Stock Exchange parent company’s director of options, to spearhead its relationships with global exchanges, the big market maker and high-frequency trader said on Thursday. Get the full story »

Almost half of companies plan to hire in 2011

Here’s some modestly encouraging news for job seekers: About 47 percent of companies with sales in the $25 million to $2 billion range, plan to hire employees in 2011, according to a national survey of chief financial officers (CFOs) by Bank of America.

New unemployment claims fell, near 2-year lows

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 »

Illinoisans less likely to live paycheck to paycheck

Illinois residents are less likely to live paycheck to paycheck than the national average, although citizens of New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire are considered the most financially capable in the nation.

The three eastern states ranked in the top five in at least five measures of financial capability, according to a new survey of 28,146 respondents, or about 500 per state plus Washington, D.C. Get the full story »

Number of job openings rises in October

Employers posted a sharp increase in job openings in October, raising hopes that hiring could pick up in the coming months.

Businesses and government advertised nearly 3.4 million jobs at the end of October, up about 12 percent from the previous month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That reverses two months of declines and is the highest total since August 2008, just before the financial crisis intensified.

Burger King lays off 250 in purge at headquarters

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 »

Chicago part of Barclays Wealth hiring push

Barclays Wealth, rapidly bulking up its U.S. business in the wake of the financial crisis, intends to accelerate its hiring efforts over the next two years.

The Barclays Plc. unit on Monday said it hired seven advisers with a combined $2.24 billion in client assets and who generated $17 million of revenue in the past year. The new investment representatives expand the London-based bank’s presence in Boston, New York, Atlanta and Chicago.

Barclay’s says it has hired 50 advisers in the Americas this year, giving it 250 representatives across the region. Get the full story »

Mapping firm Navteq opens R&D lab in Mumbai

Chicago-based digital mapping company Navteq has opened a new research and development center in Mumbai, India.

The Mumbai center will employ 150 people and is located near another Navteq facility in the same city. The company’s other R&D centers are in the U.S., Germany, the United Kingdom, Korea, Bosnia and Slovakia. Get the full story »

College grad unemployment near high

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.

Dollar tumbles after disappointing jobs report

The dollar tumbled broadly Friday after a November jobs report showed a higher rate of unemployment in the U.S., a sign that the economic recovery is still struggling. Get the full story »

Demand for temp workers remains strong

The U.S, economy added the highest number of temporary jobs last month since January, suggesting U.S. employers remain concerned about the pace of the U.S. recovery and are reluctant to step up permanent hiring.

Concrete evidence remains elusive that temp jobs — traditionally a leading indicator of full-time, or “perm” hiring — will soon translate into robust jobs growth. Get the full story »

U.S. unemployment climbs to 9.8%

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 »

Kroger fuels supermarket sector price war jitters

Kroger Co. cut some prices in its latest quarter, fueling worries that the slow U.S. economic recovery will cause another flare-up in the supermarket industry’s intense and profit-denting price war. Get the full story »

White House: Jobless aid lapse may cost 600K jobs

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 »

U.S. jobless claims rise but gains expected

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, but a drop in the four-week moving average to a fresh two-year low suggested the labor market was on the cusp of solid job gains. Get the full story »