Job Hunters Take Pitch to TV

This essential question needs to be answered, but it's complex

(NEWSER) - We toss around the phrase all the time, but how do we define what makes a “good job” good? It’s a key question—and a complex one—as we look to the future of our economy, writes Michael Lind in Salon . Among the factors:

• Unions: We often call manufacturing jobs “good” ones, but that wasn’t the case until they were unionized. Service-sector jobs, meanwhile, are often seen as "bad" jobs, but they might see huge benefits from unionization.

Health benefits of becoming employed depend on job quality: study

(NEWSER) - Studies have found that unemployment is bad for a person's mental health, but new research has discovered that having a lousy job can be as bad or worse. The researchers studied thousands of people of working age and found that while getting a good job after a period of unemployment significantly boosts mental health, the mental well-being of those who entered jobs with terrible pay, no security, and no workplace support dropped below that of people who remained jobless, the Chicago Tribune reports. More»

DC tops search engine's list

(NEWSER) - Washington, DC is the easiest city in the country to land a job, says job-search site Juju.com, which ranked cities by comparing the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ figures on unemployed workers to the number of job postings on Juju itself. The site finds 1.87 “unemployed individuals per advertised job” in the District. More»

Employers show confidence, but hedged with caution

(NEWSER) - With the economy on an upswing, employers are feeling a tad more confident—enough to bring on more temporary workers, who can easily be let go if things go south again. Temp hiring has risen for 4 months—longer than the aftermath of previous recessions, when employers started hiring permanent workers after just 2 or 3 months, the New York Times reports. More»

Employers laid off so many they'll have to hire

(NEWSER) - The rosier-than-expected unemployment numbers released today are encouraging, Floyd Norris writes, but it’s actually the very precipitous nature of the original falloff that makes him optimistic about the future. So many jobs were lost, Norris argues, that If employers want to fill any but the most meager of orders, they’ll have to hire, and fast. Hence, no jobless recovery. More»