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More About: unemployment • jobless • unemployment rate • jobless claims • US economy • economic indicators • Barack Obama • Department of Labor • jobs • jobless recovery • economic recovery • job search • Defense of Marriage Act • hiring • Hilda Solis • safety violations • Obama administration • economy • unemployment benefits • Maine • union • recession • Federal Reserve • New York • labor movement

Jobs Report: Unemployment Rate Dips to 9.1%, 117K Jobs Added in July

Better Than Expected: Unemployment Dips to 9.1%

117K jobs added in July, more than predicted

(AP) - Hiring picked up slightly in July and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1%, an optimistic sign after the worst day on Wall Street in nearly three years. The Labor Department says employers added 117,000 jobs last month, an improvement from the past two months. The Wall Street Journal... More »

Rare Good News: Jobless Claims Fall

...below the all-important 400K line, to 398K

(Newser) - Here’s something you don’t see every day: good news from the labor market. New jobless claims fell by 24,000 in the week ending on July 23, to 398,000, the Labor Department announced today. That’s the lowest level of job loss since April, and significantly better... More »

Unemployment: 4.4M Jobless for More Than a Year

4.4M Have Been Jobless for More Than a Year

Lengthy jobless periods lead to vicious cycle of unemployment

(Newser) - Some 30% of unemployed workers across the US—about 4.4 million people—had been jobless for more than a year as of last month, Labor Department data shows. Long unemployment periods were especially pronounced in New Jersey (37.1%), Georgia (36.8%), Michigan (36.0%), South Carolina (35.7%),... More »

Unemployment Now 9.2% as Hiring Nears Standstill

And May numbers revised downward as well

(AP) - The June jobs report is out, and it isn't pretty. Hiring slowed to a near-standstill last month: Employers added the fewest jobs in nine months and the unemployment rate rose to 9.2%. The Labor Department says the economy generated only 18,000 net jobs in June, and the... More »

Feds to Maine Gov: Rehang Mural or Repay Our Money

GOP gov took labor mural down after it was compared to N. Korea propaganda

(Newser) - When Maine Gov. Paul LePage decided to remove a 36-foot mural depicting the state's labor history from the state's Labor Department building, he didn't just tick off union leaders—he ticked off the federal government. The US Labor Department is demanding LePage put the mural back up, or else give... More »

NY Smacks Star-Crossed Spider-Man

Two safety violations issued by New York state

(Newser) - As if the endlessly troubled Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark didn't have enough problems, now it also has two safety violations, reports the New York Times . New York's Department of Labor issued the violations for one actor's 20-foot fall during rehearsal, and a problem with a sling-shot technique.... More »

Fed's Employment Forecast Should Scare Obama

It won't fall fast enough for him to look good in 2012

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve issued a dour new economic outlook yesterday, predicting that the unemployment rate, currently at 9.6%, will fall to only 9% by 2011 and 8% by late 2012. That's bad news for everyone, but especially for President Obama; Daily Intel notes that incumbents lost in four of... More »

Labor Dept Has a New Site for Jobless

Unemployment? Still there.

(Newser) - For those who wish they were working this holiday weekend, the Labor Department has a new website aimed at helping out-of-work Americans land a job. Called My Skills, My Future, the site allows job-seekers to punch in their skills, search for jobs, and obtain training, reports Huffington Post. More »

Jobless Claims Hit 9-Month High

Reach 500K mark as employers again cut back

(AP) - New applications for unemployment insurance reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November, a sign that employers are likely cutting jobs again as the economy slows. The Labor Department said today that initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000,... More »

US Sheds Jobs for First Time This Year

It's the first monthly decline in 2010

(Newser) - Today's unemployment numbers from June delivered generally bleak news and suggest that the economic recovery is slowing, reports the Wall Street Journal . The unemployment rate actually dipped from 9.7% to 9.5%, but the US economy lost jobs (125,000, mostly because census workers' temporary positions were cut) for... More »

Obama to Give Gays Parents Rights to Family Leave

Obama to Give Gays Parents Right to Family Leave

Will be able to take time off to care for sick kids

(Newser) - President Obama intends to give gay workers the explicit right to take family and medical leave to care for a partner’s sick child—even if they have no legal relationship with that child. The Labor Department will issue a formal opinion tomorrow saying that the 1993 law that grants... More »

Job Market Rough on Baby Boomers

Unemployment for 55-and-older set highest since WWII

(Newser) - The economy may be showing signs of recovery, but the job prospects for out-of-work baby boomers remain troubling, reports NPR . The unemployment rate among the 55-and-older set hit 7.2%, the highest since the end of World War II. And while that may be lower than the overall rate, older... More »

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