The Inside Job
-
Young Women Closing in on Gender Wage Parity
Continue reading… 2 CommentsWorking women in their early twenties are close to catching up to their male counterparts in median earnings, according to Labor Department data. Women in most age groups have made gains since 1979, but full-time working women ages 65 and older have gained no ground in closing the wage gap.
This graph from the Labor Department shows women's weekly earnings as a percentage of men's in 1979 and 2008, by age group.
[See how bad credit could cost you a job]
-
13 Cities Where Some of the Job News is Good
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThe Labor Department reported metro area employment data this week, and it's clear that while all cities have suffered in this recession, there's no question the damage has been worse in some spots. Consider that Kokomo, Ind., suffered the highest percentage point increase in the unemployment rate over the past year--an 11.8 point rise.
Here's a look at 13 metro areas the Labor Department highlighted for topping one or more measures, including employment change in number or by percentage between June 2009 and June 2008, as well as lowest unemployment rates in June. (Keep in mind that some of the cities may actually have added jobs, but still have high unemployment.)
-
More Job Seekers Are Relocating For Work
Continue reading… 3 CommentsJob seekers are showing a willingness to move again. The percentage of job seekers who relocate for a new job has more than doubled to 18.2 percent from a recessionary (and record) low of 8.9 percent early last year, according to a new report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That percentage--of job seekers who find employment--has been steadily increasing. It was up from 14.3 percent in the first quarter and up from 11.4 percent in the year ago period.
[See 10 cities with the most job postings per capita]
The trend could mean that workers--now nearly 20 months into the recession--have seen that the job and housing markets are not rebounding quickly, and are more willing to lose money on the sale of their homes if it means getting a paycheck. “While job seekers are no less likely to lose money on the sale of their home and the job market is only marginally more stable than it was six months ago, the overwhelming desire to get back to work appears to be outweighing the perceived risks,” chief executive John Challenger says.
Moving rates are tracked by the Census Bureau, which reported that the 2008 national mover rate was the lowest in its 60 year history of being recorded. Last year, people in the South and the West were more likely to move than those in the Midwest and the Northeast, according to Census data. Renters were also five times more likely to move than homeowners.
-
The End of Unemployment Benefits: 5 Things to Know
Continue reading… 39 CommentsWhile Presidents Bush and Obama have done many things differently, they used one common tool to help stimulate the economy: unemployment benefit extensions. Still, the efforts of both presidents may not have been enough to hold over millions of American workers until they find their next jobs. More than a half-million Americans are expected to fully exhaust their benefits by the end of September.
[See 10 cities with the most job postings]
With longterm unemployment streaking higher, the job market shows no signs of real recovery. The declining number of people filing initial unemployment benefit claims is evidence that companies are slowing their job shedding, but they don't appear to be ramping up hiring yet. Here are five things to know about benefit exhaustion:
Some 540,000 Americans are expected to fully exhaust their unemployment benefits by the end of September, and another 1.5 milllion by the end of the year, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project. Fully federally funded benefits extensions are covering 2.8 million workers, the NELP reports.
-
Employee Free Choice Without Card Check: "Card Check Lite?"
Continue reading… 10 CommentsIn an effort to get moderate Democrats in the Senate on board with the Employee Free Choice Act, the key "card check" provision of the bill has been scrapped, the NYTimes is reporting. Opponents centered their fight around this section of the legislation, which would allow workers to form unions by signing cards instead of holding a secret ballot election. But the fight isn't over--even if card check is scuttled--as opponents are taking aim at possible revisions.
[See 5 things to know about the Employee Free Choice Act]
Business interests have argued that card check would make workers vulnerable to union intimidation, while unions argued that the existing process of holding secret ballot elections has left workers open to intimidation and threats from employers. To form a union now, at least 30 percent of workers must sign cards indicating they want a union before they can hold an election, then a majority must vote to organize. During the election process, some employees have been subjected to "threats, interrogation, harassment, surveillance, and retaliation for union activity," according to the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank focused on labor issues that receives some funding from unions.
-
Cisco Layoffs: Yes, Companies are Still Cutting Jobs
Continue reading… 6 CommentsCisco laid off between 600 and 700 workers at its San Jose headquarters today, providing a stark reminder that jobs are still under threat and companies are continuing to cut costs, despite positive signs of recovery elsewhere in the economy.
There was good news today: IBM reported earnings that were well above analysts' expectations after the market closed, and JP Morgan said its second quarter profits rose 36 percent. The Labor Department also reported that continuing jobless claims had dropped by 642,000 from the previous week.
[See more on the future of the job market]
But minutes from the Federal Reserve's June 23-24 meeting show officials are worried about the health of the job market. A key excerpt:
-
10 Best Cities to Look For Creative Jobs
Continue reading… 9 CommentsYou can head for a city with a low unemployment rate, or you can find a city that's got a slightly outsized need for the job you know best. For people in creative careers, you may actually be able to find work in this recession if you spend some time focusing your search on spots where the supply/demand ratios are more favorable. Here are some of the top cities for jobs from acting to architecture, according to data from Wanted Technologies.
[See 10 cities with the most job postings per capita]
San Francisco: If you're an actor, you may have your best shot auditioning in this Northern California metropolis.
Dallas: According to the Wanted data, it would be a good idea for chefs, writers and authors, singers and musicians, and floral designers to look for work in this Texas city.
Provo, Utah: This city should rank tops for job-seeking graphic designers.
New York: Photographers and chefs will find one of their best job markets right now in New York.
-
A Fitness Stimulus Could Save Lives and Jobs
Continue reading… 1 CommentAmid the chorus of calls for another stimulus package (it would be President Obama's second, the country's third), a new study is released that finds that active commutes--walking or biking some portion of the distance to work--are correlated with a higher level of fitness. But only 17 percent of Americans walk or bike any distance to work. Why?
From the AP story:
Crumbling sidewalks, lack of bike paths and sheer distances all keep American commuters in their cars, experts said.
-
9 Things to Know About the Job Market of the Future
Continue reading… 25 CommentsThe President's Council of Economic Advisers released a report today detailing their forecasts for the job market over the next decade or so. Here are 9 key points, followed by excerpts from the report:
Unemployment under the stimulus is higher than officials expected, but the White House insists job creation is on track: "The ARRA [stimulus] is projected to create or retain 3.5 million jobs as of the fourth quarter of 2010. These jobs are projected to be in all major industries in the economy." (Note that this figure will never be measurable, as it will be impossible to calculate job creation/destruction without the stimulus.)
Health care will be the energizer bunny of hiring: "Health care is forecasted to remain a large source of job growth in the labor market. The long-term trend toward more employment in health care is expected to continue, with many health care occupations, including medical records and health information technicians, registered nurses, clinical laboratory technicians, and physical therapists, expected to grow."
-
10 Cities With the Most Job Postings Per Capita
Continue reading… 87 CommentsAmong the 50 largest cities in the U.S., one stands out for having the most abundant job postings per capita: Washington, D.C. The nation's capital boasted 133 postings per 1,000 residents in the second quarter of 2009, according to a report by Indeed.com, a broad job search engine that combs company and association websites, job boards, newspapers, and blogs for postings. That Washington took the top spot is no great surprise, as government hiring has held up during the recession.
The runner up is Baltimore, Md., which is aided by its close proximity to Washington, but also boasts an economy fueled by recession-hearty industries like healthcare and higher education. Baltimore's unemployment rate was 7.2 percent in May, well below the 9.4 percent national average that month.
[See more on the job market of the future]
San Jose ranked no. 3 for job postings per capita in the second quarter, despite a regionally high unemployment rate in May, and continued fallout from the housing collapse. Still, the tech industry is resilient, and Alan Berube, co-author of a recent Brookings report on metro area economies, has said the Bay Area economy may recover more quickly than the rest of the nation. The metropolitan San Jose economy has remained one of the strongest through the recession, according to the Brookings report.
-
Economists Say 'Not Yet' to Second Helping of Stimulus
Continue reading… 0 CommentsAny Calvin and Hobbes fan knows how much Calvin loves Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs--sometimes three (or, say, five) bowls worth. His first bowl is eaten in anticipation of his second, which is then consumed before the first has even been digested.
It's not unlike calls for a second stimulus now, before the effects of the first have been felt. Warren Buffett today called for a meatier second stimulus. Paul Krugman has argued for the same. But a WSJ survey shows the majority of economists are opposed to a second round of spending before the country has seen the fruits of the first. From the WSJ:
"The mother of all jobless recoveries is coming down the pike," said Allen Sinai of Decision Economics. But he doesn't favor more stimulus now, saying "lags in monetary and fiscal policy actions" should be allowed to "work through the system."
Like most respondents, Mr. Sinai said the bulk of the stimulus wouldn't be felt until 2010. When asked how much the stimulus has helped the economy, 53% of respondents said it has provided somewhat of a boost but that the larger effect is still to come.
-
Initial Unemployment Benefit Claims Plunge
Continue reading… 0 CommentsLast week, 565,000 people filed inital claims for unemployment benefits--a drop of 52,000 from the previous week, when 617,000 claims were filed, the Labor Department reported this morning. The four-week moving average, used to smooth out this volatile weekly data, fell by 10,000.
It's good news, but don't read too much into it, says Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR, in a morning note.
From Shapiro:
The median forecast for the current week’s seasonally adjusted result called for a decline to 603,000. The reported outcome was therefore considerably lower than market expectations. However, as we warned, results in holiday weeks are often substantially skewed by imprecise seasonal adjustment, and we would caution against reading much (if anything) into this report.
-
7 Lessons From a Successful Job Search
Continue reading… 63 CommentsFor the past few months, I've been helping someone look for a job. By that I mean that I have been offering my advice by the bucketload to a receptive, if discriminating, job seeker who then had to do the actual work of finding employment. Last week, this job search ended with some of the greatest words in the English dictionary: "We are pleased to extend to you an offer of employment." Here are seven lessons from the hunt:
-
Twitter-Based Job Schemes Promise Work-From-Home Cash
Continue reading… 8 CommentsIt's no surprise, really, that the Better Business Bureau's newest job scheme alert is all about Twitter. As a BBB spokesman puts it: “Twitter is the newest bright shiny object online and a perfect hook for yet another work-at-home scheme."
Multiple sites are promising easy routes to daily paychecks with Twitter. A couple of sites that the BBB spotlights persuade users to sign up for seven-day free trials for informational materials, then charge nearly $50 to $100 a month at the end of the trial period.
From the BBB:
-
5 Things to Know About Hiring Right Now
Continue reading… 3 CommentsThe Labor Department released its report on May's hiring, firing and job openings today. If you'll recall, May's job numbers were a burst of good news when reported last month--as employers had cut their rate of job shedding in half for the month.
The number of people hired in May held pretty steady at 4 million. The hires rate--total hires as a percent of total employment--dropped significantly in retail, however.
The job openings rate--a measure of the number of job openings on the final business day of the month as a portion of the total employment plus openings--jumped for the retail industry in May. The job openings rate fell significantly in accomodation and food services, and state and local government.
Between May 2007 and May 2008, the job openings rate has dropped significantly for nearly all industries save for the federal government, which hired many temporary Census 2010 workers.
-
Why You Shouldn't Fear a Job Interview Shrink
Continue reading… 2 CommentsI talked with Washington, DC's WTOP News this July Fourth about job interviews--namely, my recent story on psychologists at job interviews. More and more companies are turning to industrial-organizational psychologists for help filtering the best executive and managerial candidates from the piles of resumes on their desks (and in their E-mail).
Why a Psychologist Might Be at Your Next Interview
Subscribe to Money & Business
-
Why the Worst Jobs Numbers Sometimes Aren't
Continue reading… 3 CommentsRecessions are really about people--losing jobs, missing mortgage payments, starting new businesses, and closing businesses that have failed. But you can't dismiss the numbers. The unemployment rate rises, the gross domestic product slips, home sales fall, advertising dollars fade. While the stories about people are easy to sensationalize, at least the numbers make our circumstances objectively measurable. After all, numbers can't be made to appear as anything other than what they are, right?
Let's take a look at employment. The workforce of 2009 is huge. Consider that nearly 4.2 million Americans were hired in April, and an additional 4.1 million were hired in March--all while in a recession. Despite the downturn stripping about 7 million jobs from the nation's payrolls, the number of employed workers has more than tripled in just seven decades.
[See more on surviving long-term unemployment]
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the numbers hadn't changed that much, given the flurry of headlines and news reports that have been comparing the absolute numbers of job losses during this recession with those of the past.
-
The June Jobs Report and Long-term Unemployment
Continue reading… 5 CommentsThe bad news in June's jobs report is slightly insidious. From the outside, it doesn't look so bad. It's not like we had the kinds of job losses we had earlier this year. But there are many, many ugly things in this report. A list:
- Job losses were a good deal higher than expected: 467,000 vs. 365,000
- The average workweek hit a record low, thanks to employers slashing payroll hours.
- The U6 measure--an alternate measure of unemployment that includes part-timers who want full-time jobs, and discouraged people who are unemployed but have stopped looking for work--hit 16.5 percent.
- The teen unemployment rate hit 24 percent. (That does not mean that 24 percent of teenagers aren't working. That means that 24 percent of teenagers who want jobs cannot find them.)
- Hourly earnings were flat, but hours have been cut, so weekly earnings fell in June.
- Male v. female unemployment rate: 10 v. 7.6
-
Why the Unemployed Need to Find Peace of Mind
Continue reading… 1 CommentIt's a fairly cruel fact of life that the people most in need of a career coach, a massage, a vacation, or, say, a nutritious variety of fruits and vegetables, are the least likely to be able to afford them. Stress often accompanies a drop in income, so right when you need better methods of dealing with stress, you're unable to afford them.
There's a well-supported correlation between job loss and decreased longevity. Not only does a laid-off worker suffer the acute stress and earnings disruption at the time of the job loss, but over the course of a lifetime, the worker's earnings may be negatively affected by the setback. A recent study by Daniel Sullivan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Till von Wachter of Columbia University found job loss among high-seniority male workers resulted in a mortality rate between 50 percent and 100 percent higher than normal in the year following the job loss. The effect declines over time, according to the economists' research, but life expectancy still seemed slightly affected by the job displacement.
One remarkable point from the Sullivan-von Wachter study: The economists found that younger workers—under 55—are much more affected by the side effects of job loss than older workers. They experience a much higher percentage increase in "mortality hazards." For one thing, the researchers point out that older workers have the advantage of access to Social Security, their company's pension plans, or Medicare coverage.
Poorer health is not only a threat to those losing their jobs, but those who fear they will. As Tom Jacobs writes in the most recent issue of Miller-McCune, research increasingly suggests that "a nagging, persistent fear of losing one's job is also detrimental to one's health." (Some of the research involves self-reported health, which may or may not be the same thing as actual health.) A study earlier this year found that layoff survivors tend to experience poorer health for as long as six years.
