Applications for Unemployment Aid Drop Slightly

Although the housing market continues to struggle, it looks like the job market is finally showing signs of improvement! According to reports, the number of people seeking unemployment dropped by 5,000 last week.

From the Associated Press:

Applications at about 375,000 or below indicate a sustained increase in hiring. Applications peaked during the recession at 651,000. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits are considered a gauge of the pace of layoffs.

"The economy is getting better, demand is growing," said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak. "There is only so much companies can do with their existing payrolls. At some point they have to expand."

Private-sector employers could add as many as 200,000 net new employees in March, Greenhaus said. That's similar to February's gain, which was the most in almost a year.

Separately, companies ordered fewer long-lasting manufactured goods last month, purchasing fewer computers, machines and primary metals. The Commerce Department said Thursday that orders for durable goods dropped 0.9 percent in February, the fourth decline in the past five months. A key category that measures business investment fell for the second straight month.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell for the fifth straight week to 3.7 million. But that doesn't include 4.3 million people who are receiving extended benefits under emergency federal programs enacted during the recession.

As applications have fallen, hiring has started to pick up. The economy added a net total of 192,000 jobs in February, the most in nearly a year. Many economists are expecting similar gains in March.

Continued here…

Boomerang Kids: 85% Of College Grads Move Home

According to new statistics, there is a new group of kids in town: the boomerangers. They are college graduates who move back home because of extreme unemployment rates among their age group. Nearly 15% of taxpayers between the age of twenty and twenty-four are unable to find employment. According to CNN Money:

"This recession has hit young adults particularly hard," according to Rich Morin, senior editor at the Pew Research Center in DC.

So hard that a whopping 85% of college seniors planned to move back home with their parents after graduation last May, according to a poll by Twentysomething Inc., a marketing and research firm based in Philadelphia. That rate has steadily risen from 67% in 2006.

"It's peaking at levels we have not seen before," said David Morrison, managing director and founder of Twentysomething.

Mallory Jaroski, 22 graduated from Penn State University in May but has been living at home with her mother while looking for a job in press relations. "It's not bad living with my mom, but I feel like a little kid. I have a little bed, a little room," she says.

Jaroski thought she would stay for summer. But like many others, she's found her stay becoming significantly longer.

"There's almost an expectation that kids will move back home, there is no stigma attached," Morrison said. "The thought now is to move home for 6-12 months but in reality those young adults will be home for a year and a half or longer. Even if they have jobs, they are living at home."

Continue Reading…

Do Unemployment Checks Keep the Jobless at Home?

From CNNMoney.com:

Does allowing the jobless to get nearly two-years of unemployment checks give them an incentive to not work?

When Congress debated whether to extend unemployment to a record 99 weeks, some Republicans said that the unemployed are staying home collecting benefits when they could otherwise be working.

"[An unemployment extension] doesn't create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work," Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., argued during Senate debate in March.

And with the current extended benefits due to expire soon after November's mid-term elections, that argument seem to be gaining some traction.

The extension of benefits "is almost surely the culprit" behind sky-high unemployment, argued Robert Barro, Harvard University economics professor, in a recent Wall Street Journal column.

A Labor Market Punishing to Mothers

Many of us are already aware that there are more men in powerful corporate positions than women. In fact, out of the Fortune 500 companies, only 15 have women CEO’s. However, according to this article from the New York Times single women without children, are often favored over mothers.

The last three men nominated to the Supreme Court have all been married and, among them, have seven children. The last three women — Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Harriet Miers (who withdrew) — have all been single and without children.

This little pattern makes the court a good symbol of the American job market. Women and men with similar qualifications — age, education, experience — are much more likely to be treated similarly today than in the past. The pay gap between them, while still not zero, has shrunk to just a few percentage points.

Yet once you look beyond the tidy comparisons of supposedly identical men and women, the picture is much less sunny. There are still only 15 Fortune 500 companies with a female chief executive. Men dominate the next rungs of management in most fields, too. Over all, full-time female workers make a whopping 23 percent less on average than full-time male workers.

What’s going on? Men and women are not identical, of course. Many more women take time off from work. Many more women work part time at some point in their careers. Many more women can’t get to work early or stay late.

And our economy exacts a terribly steep price for any time away from work — in both pay and promotions. People often cannot just pick up where they have left off. Entire career paths are closed off. The hit to earnings is permanent.

Jobless Claims in U.S. Declined by 11,000 to 457,000

Last week the number of first-time jobless claims dropped by 11,000 putting the total at 457,000. Although this may be a good sign, the number of people still receiving unemployment benefits rose, which many expects claim is slowing the pace of economic growth.

“The underlying pace of claims has not made any measurable improvement,” said Ellen Zentner, senior U.S. macro economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. “Businesses are investing in equipment but other than that there’s little impetus” for them to hire, she said.

Economists forecast claims would fall to 460,000, from a previously reported 464,000 for the prior week, according to the median of 42 projections in a Bloomberg survey. Estimates ranged from 445,000 to 500,000.

Stocks rose as companies from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. posted better-than-estimated earnings. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent to 1,108.67 at 10:28 a.m. in New York. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3 percent from 2.99 percent late yesterday.

Four-Week Average

The four-week moving average of claims, a less-volatile measure, dropped to 452,500 last week, the lowest since May 8, from 457,000, today’s report showed.

The number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits rose to 4.565 million in the week ended July 17, from 4.484 million the prior week.

Cities Threaten to Cut 500,000 Jobs

Local government agencies around the country are having ongoing budget and deficit problems, and officials are now saying that unless Congress steps in they will be forced to cut thousands of jobs. As CNN Money.com explains, many of these jobs include government workers and safety personnel.

Cash-strapped cities and counties have been cutting jobs to cope with massive budget shortfalls -- and that tally could edge up to nearly 500,000 if Congress doesn't step up to help.

Local governments are looking to eliminate 8.6% of their total full-time equivalent positions by 2012, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties and United States Conference of Mayors.

"Local governments across the country are now facing the combined impact of decreased tax revenues, a falloff in state and federal aid and increased demand for social services," the report said. "In this current climate of fiscal distress, local governments are forced to eliminate both jobs and services."

The depth of the recession has pushed cities to make reductions in departments that are typically shielded from cuts because they provide core services to residents, including public safety, public works, public health, social services and parks and recreation.

Continue reading at CNN Money.com…

Where the Jobs Are

Although many taxpayers across the county are having trouble finding employment, there are a few communities with thriving job markets. CNNMoney.com posted an interesting story on the 25 counties that have experienced the most job growth. I have included two of the cities that made the list below, but you can see the full slideshow here.

1. Lincoln County, SD

Towns include: Sioux Falls

Job growth (2000-2009): 67.0%

Even though it's almost 1,200 miles away, Lincoln County wasn't immune to the financial crisis that rocked Wall Street.

Too-big-to-fail banking giants Citibank and Wells Fargo call this area home -- but Lincoln county isn't all dollars and wide open spaces. A strong retail and healthcare presence helped keep the county going strong when banks were on the brink.

Sanford Health and Avera Health are currently the county's largest employers, and they're expanding. Both are building regional clinics and treatment facilities in the area. A major cancer treatment facility is scheduled to be completed by late 2010.

2. Williamson County, TX

Towns include: Cedar Park, Round Rock

Job growth (2000-2009): 58.9%

Dude, they got Dell! With the computer manufacturer as the county's largest employer, Williamson County has a tech-savvy workforce that helps draw other businesses to the area.

Continue reading at CNN.com…

May Job Openings Dip but Hiring Near 2-Year High

Although job openings slipped down in May, the hiring rate increased to the highest levels in 2 years. As this MSN News article explains, a number of these jobs were census workers, but the data still indicates an overall improvement for the U.S job market.

"The positive thing is job openings in general have been trending higher since February, even though they dipped in May. It confirms that the labor market has bottomed, there are some new jobs (being created)," said Harm Bandholz, chief US Economist at UniCredit Research in New York.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, dipped to 3.21 million from 3.30 million in April, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

The job openings rate, a gauge of how many jobs were still open at the end of the month, eased to 2.4 percent from 2.5 percent in April.

But hirings rose to 4.50 million from 4.29 million, lifting the rate of hiring to 3.4 percent -- the highest since August 2008 -- from 3.3 percent in April.

Continue reading at MSN.com…

Job Blues for Gray-Haired Workers

Lower unemployment numbers are great news for everyone, except older workers, says CNNMoney.com. According to the most recent statistics from the Labor Department, while jobless claims are falling overall, the number of unemployed workers over 55 years old is holding steady.

What does that mean? Companies are hiring all right, but only younger workers. "All the gains we've seen from the peak last fall to now, they've gone to people less than 55 years old," said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist for the Economic Policy Institute. Furthermore, some experts also believe that the unemployment rate for older workers is artificially low, as they tend to become more discouraged and stop looking for work. And unemployment only counts people who are actively seeking employment.

Overlooking older workers is bad news for employers too. According to Tim Driver, CEO of RetirementJobs.com, older workers bring incredible experience and a lifetime of skills to their jobs that younger workers just can’t duplicate. In addition, older workers tend to keep stay in jobs longer, reducing turnover costs for employers.

Read the entire article here.

California unemployment falls to 12.4 percent

Here in California the unemployment rate is falling, but not making much of a difference. It fell to 12.4 percent in California last month and the state had its fifth straight month of job growth, but the numbers are still very weak, according to the California Employment Development Department. The statewide unemployment rate fell only a tenth of a point, from 12.5 percent in May, while 28,300 jobs were added. However, most of the jobs were temporary government jobs, probably those from the Census.

In May, California still had the third highest unemployment rate in the U.S., trailing Nevada (14 percent) and Michigan (13.6 percent). May marked the first time since April 2006 that a state other than Michigan had the worst unemployment in the nation.

In Job Market Shift, Some Workers Are Left Behind

From NY Times.com:

Many of the jobs lost during the recession are not coming back. Period.

For the last two years, the weak economy has provided an opportunity for employers to do what they would have done anyway: dismiss millions of people — like file clerks, ticket agents and autoworkers — who were displaced by technological advances and international trade.

The phasing out of these positions might have been accomplished through less painful means like attrition, buyouts or more incremental layoffs. But because of the recession, winter came early.

The tough environment has been especially disorienting for older and more experienced workers like Cynthia Norton, 52, an unemployed administrative assistant in Jacksonville.

“I know I’m good at this,” says Ms. Norton. “So how the hell did I end up here?”

Administrative work has always been Ms. Norton’s “calling,” she says, ever since she started work as an assistant for her aunt at 16, back when the uniform was a light blue polyester suit and a neckerchief. In the ensuing decades she has filed, typed and answered phones for just about every breed of business, from a law firm to a strip club. As a secretary at the RAND Corporation, she once even had the honor of escorting Henry Kissinger around the building.

New Jobless Claims Drop By 11,000

It seems like there have been plenty of new reports regarding the economy, and yesterday it was reported that Americans filed 11,000 less jobless claims last week than the week before.

Although this is good news, the national unemployment is still at 9.7%, and an estimated 448,000 Americans out of work. Check out the following story from Washington Post regarding the new jobless reports.

Continuing unemployment claims last week rose slightly to 4.66 million, up from 4.64 million the previous week.

The four-week moving average on new jobless claims, which smoothes out volatility in the data, rose 1,500 to 462,500. This bump up is so small as to be nearly statistically insignificant. If the four-week moving average begins to flatten and then eventually turn downward, the economy will get closer to creating new jobs.

Forecasters expected last week's number to come in at 448,000.

The official U.S. unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. The April number will be released next Friday and forecasters expect the number to remain unchanged. Economists say that the unemployment rate will stay near 10 percent through the end of the year.

Generally, economists say that new job growth can't begin until the new jobless claims number gets down into the low 400,000s or upper 300,000s and stays there. This time last week, the economy was shedding 700,000 new jobs per week. And though the number is much better this year, the weekly jobless claims number remains stubbornly stuck in the mid-400,000s.

No Job For Years and Still Looking

From CNN Money.com:

John Miller wasn't too nervous when he lost his job in the mortgage industry in June 2008.

The worst of the financial crisis was still months away. While the subprime mortgage industry had already imploded, there was still a debate at the time whether a recession had started. Job losses were steady but not dramatic.

Miller lost his job when Deutsche Bank shut down a unit making government-guaranteed FHA loans, but he had found work in the past when an employer had closed a unit. He thought that even if it took a few months to find another job, something would turn up.

Almost two years later, he's still looking.

"It's unfathomable to me," said Miller. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be coming up on two years without a job."

Miller is exhibit A of why this economic downturn feels so much worse to most than any other since the Great Depression. Long-term unemployment is at a level that dwarfs anything since the government started tracking the problem shortly after World War II.

California Jobless Rate Swells to 12.6 Percent

It is no secret that my home state of California has had a rising unemployment rate. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the number of Californians without jobs increased last month to 12.6%. The state Employment Development Department made the announcement last Friday.

California's jobless rate grew from 12.5 percent in February after holding steady for a month. The rate was 10.6 percent in March 2009.

Howard Roth, Chief Economist for the State Department of Finance, said the unemployment rate appears to be at or near its peak.

It was the first time since mid-2007 that the state saw job gains for three consecutive months. The department previously had reported a job loss in February, but revised those numbers Friday based on new data.

"I think this is for real," Roth said of the economic rebound. "We're seeing it in other statistics as well, personal income, taxable sales and housing prices."

March Unemployment Rate Unchanged At 9.7%

Over the past two years financial experts and economists have been monitoring changes to the unemployment rate as an indicator the country’s economic climate. However, last month the unemployment rate did not change and stayed at 9.7%.

While this is certainly a positive report, some are warning that these numbers could be a result of temporary census related jobs. The Washington Post has published an article discussing the unchanged unemployment rate; you can find a section of their story below or find the full text here.

A total of 162,000 new jobs were created on non-farm payrolls--the biggest one-month jobs gain in the past three years, but still well below what economists were predicting.

Most forecasters had expected about 200,000 new jobs to be created in March. The difference is largely attributable to fewer census workers than expected being hired by the government. But analysts say the numbers also illustrate the slow and wobbly nature of the ongoing economic recovery.

Christina Roemer, chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, said the monthly employment report offered evidence of "gradual labor market healing."

"...[I]t is obvious that the American labor market remains severely distressed," Roemer said in a statement. "...While this is the most positive jobs report we have had in three years, there will likely be bumps in the road ahead."

FactCheck.org: IRS Will Not Need to Hire 16,500 New Agents to Enforce ObamaCare

From FactCheck.org via Tax Prof:

Q: Will the IRS hire 16,500 new agents to enforce the health care law?

A: No. The law requires the IRS mostly to hand out tax credits, not collect penalties. The claim of 16,500 new agents stems from a partisan analysis based on guesswork and false assumptions, and compounded by outright misrepresentation. ...

The IRS’ first task is to inform many small-business owners of a new tax credit that the new law grants them — starting this year — which will pay up to 35 percent of the employer’s contribution toward their workers’ health insurance. And in 2014, the IRS will also be administering additional subsidies — in the form of refundable tax credits — to help millions of low- and middle-income individuals buy health insurance.

The law does make individuals subject to a tax, starting in 2014, if they fail to obtain health insurance coverage. But IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman testified before a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee March 25 that the IRS won’t be auditing individuals to certify that they have obtained health insurance. He said insurance companies will issue forms certifying that individuals have coverage that meets the federal mandate, similar to a form that lenders use to verify the amount of interest someone has paid on their home mortgage. "We expect to get a simple form, that we won’t look behind, that says this person has acceptable health coverage," Shulman said. "So there’s not going to be any discussions about health coverage with an IRS employee." In any case, the bill signed into law (on page 131) specifically prohibits the IRS from using the liens and levies commonly used to collect money owed by delinquent taxpayers, and rules out any criminal penalties for individuals who refuse to pay the tax or those who don’t obtain coverage. That doesn’t leave a lot for IRS enforcers to do.

Honestly, this is a lot speculation surrounding the new health care bill, there are many questions that are simply unable to be answered until some of the provisions of the new law actually begin to play out. It is great to check out the source of the information before you buy 100 percent in to the information. The bottom line is: although, they did not ask for this job, the IRS will act as enforcer of this bill so if you are not able to report to them that you are in compliance with the specifics of this law, you will face tax penalties.

Summer Job Outlook Is Cloudy

From CNNMoney.com:

The search for a summer job won't be any easier this year, despite nascent signs of a recovery.

Almost half of hiring managers -- 47% -- don't plan to hire any seasonal workers this summer, said a survey from hourly job site SnagAJob.com. That's about the same as last summer's 46%.

The majority of respondents, 54%, said they think it will be "difficult" for teens to find a summer job this year. The survey did not ask that question last year.

"Just like last summer, employers have a wide range of [applicants] this year," said Shawn Boyer, chief executive of SnagAJob.com. "When managers can pick from the cream of the crop, it makes it tough for those applying."

Teens were likely hoping for a sunnier outlook this year, since 2009's summer job openings were slim amid a churning economy. But even as the recession has begun to abate this year, the unemployment rate remains at 9.7%.

U.S. Economy: Service Industries Expand More Than Anticipated

From Bloomberg.com:

Service industries in the U.S. accelerated in February more than anticipated, indicating the economic expansion may soon create jobs following the worst employment slump in the post-World War II era.

The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non- manufacturing businesses, which covers almost 90 percent of the economy, increased to 53 from 50.5 in January. Last month’s reading was the highest since October 2007 and exceeded all estimates of 73 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The factory rebound that helped the economy emerge from the recession is starting to filter to other industries, giving a boost to companies such as Macy’s Inc. Stocks climbed as another report showed job losses cooled in February and pointed to gains in employment as soon as this month.

“We’re starting to see a broadening of the economic recovery,” said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at Woodley Park Research in Washington, whose forecast of 52.9 was the highest in the Bloomberg survey. The data “are encouraging, to say the least.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.4 percent to 1,123.14 at 12:13 p.m. in New York. The 10-year Treasury note fell, pushing the yield up to 3.64 percent from 3.61 percent late yesterday.

Economists forecast the ISM index to rise to 51, according to the median estimate in the Bloomberg survey. Estimates ranged from 48.5 to 52.9.

Latest Good Reads

Obama's Tax Team

Gubernatorial Candidate Wants to Lower Taxes?!?

Shades of Smoot-Hawley Act, Obama Imposes Tariff on Tires

What Do Salaries Tell Us About Our Society?

A Recruiter Speaks: Insider Info on the Job Market