Free Republic

Republicans love fracking in Colorado — and it could help them flip a critical Senate seat this fall. The onslaught against Democratic Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.) reached a fever pitch this week when Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) had to cancel a special legislative session meant to keep two hydraulic fracturing initiatives backed by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) off the November ballot. Udall, who had stayed out of the fray on the two measures, was forced to take a side much to the GOP's glee. Now, with Colorado as one of the top natural gas producing states in the nation,...

Dakota Blazier had made a big decision. Friendly and fresh-faced, from a small town north of Indianapolis, he'd made up his mind: He wasn't going to college. "I discovered a long time ago," he explained, "I'm not book smart. I don't like sitting still, and I learn better when the problem is practical." But he didn't feel this limited his options—to the contrary. And he was executing a plan as purposeful as that of any of his high-school peers. It started in his junior year with release time from high school to take a course in basic construction skills at...

Florida is leading the nation in job growth, adding more than 37,000 jobs this month. The Tampa Bay area has added over 25,000 jobs in the last 12 months, third among metro areas in Florida, according to state officials..

When asked by CNSNews.com on Wednesday whether legalizing illegal aliens would help the unemployed in the United States, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D.-Conn.) countered that that was a “a gotcha question” and declined to answer it. DeLauro was speaking outside the U.S. Capitol at a rally for the unemployed.

Gov. Rick Snyder's Facebook page boasted recently that Michigan led the nation in manufacturing job growth in May by adding 4,500 jobs. In fact, from May 2012 to May 2014, Michigan was first in the nation in gross manufacturing job gains with 25,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Texas was second with 22,000 jobs added. Michigan has been sixth in that time span in percentage growth (4.7 percent). Montana led the nation in percentage growth over the past two years at 8.5 percent. University of Michigan economist Don Grimes said Michigan's economy is doing well, but he...

US home construction fell 9.3 per cent in June, a surprising sign of weakness for a sector that has struggled to maintain momentum over the past year. Housing starts sank last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 893,000, the weakest showing since September 2013, the Commerce Department said Thursday. It was the second-straight monthly drop....

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting the labor market recovery was gaining traction. However, a separate report showed U.S. housing starts and building permits unexpectedly fell in June, suggesting the housing market recovery was struggling to get back on track after stalling in late 2013. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 302,000 for the week ended July 12, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's claims were revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast...

Part of our continuing series on answering the most common (and trickiest) behavioral interview questions. Tell Me About a Failure What’s the toughest behavioral interview question of them all? For many, it’s this one: Tell me about a time you failed. I’ve noticed that more and more recruiters and hiring managers are including this question in their standard behavioral interviews. Some recruiters will even tell you that this is the most important interview question to ask a candidate. Obviously, you can’t afford to FAIL to answer this question well. However, my experience is that most candidates are terrible at answering...

For business graduates, job placement appears to be on par with last year, if not slightly better, and salaries are holding firm. At a recent open house for parents of incoming freshmen business students at Bentley University, Career Services Director Len Morrison had an encouraging message to share. Recent graduates have been landing jobs with ease, and companies have been flocking to campus, many making multiple hires, Morrison said. “I told them that I don’t think there is a better time to be graduating as a business student,” he said. “The economy is back and looks like it is moving...

As the digital sector grows, jobs that rely on older technologies, such as newspaper reporters, mail carriers, and lumberjacks, are rapidly becoming obsolete. A new study by CareerCast revealed the top 10 professions predicted to lose the most jobs by 2022, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mail carriers are most endangered, with a projected 28% decline by the year 2022. Farmers and meter readers will also see significant shrinkage, with an anticipated 19% decline for each within the next eight years. Is your job headed for the trash pile? 1. Mail Carrier BLS job description: Sort...

Black American from Gang-Besieged Baltimore: 'Where Can I Get Asylum?' by Tony Lee 11 Jul 2014 1612 post a comment As the White House plans to spend billions of taxpayer funds to take care of illegal immigrant children who are unlawfully entering the country, some black Americans who live in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods are wondering where they and their children can get refugee status and aid. On Friday's Laura Ingraham Show, Elaine, a black woman from Baltimore, expressed her outrage that President Barack Obama is putting the interests of illegal immigrant children above those of American citizens....

Most employees believe they have no say when it comes to changes in the workplace that directly affect their jobs. Six out of ten corporate staff said they have little or no input in decisions which affect them personally at work, according to a recent survey by Strayer University and Ipsos. Those over 35 felt their opinions mattered less than those workers aged 18-34 - although perhaps that's just a healthy dose of cynicism that comes from spending longer on the corporate ladder.

Big news out of the White House this week is that the General Service Administration was finally getting around to tackling the all-important bowling alley renovations for White House staffers. Just more shovel-ready, infrastructure jobs to improve the economy. This from Time.com: The bowling alley was recently photographed by POLITICO, which described “chipped lanes and worn-out shoes” in the basement getaway. “It has been fifteen years since these lanes have had any professional, industry standard maintenance, modifications, repairs or attention,” the GSA wrote in the posting. “They are now irreparable. So it was proposed by the GSA that they...

When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker delivered his State of the State address in January 2013, he promised that an agenda of budget cutting, reduced taxes and less business regulation would result in a better economic climate and more jobs for his state. “Unlike the message coming out of Washington, I believe that putting more money in the hands of the people — instead of the government — is good for the economy,” said the Republican governor, who is known as a reformer. Walker is just one of several Republican governors who, with the help of friendly Republican-dominated state legislatures, have...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The effect on the congressional immigration debate after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s surprising primary loss should not be about whether to have reform, but whether that reform should be about increasing foreign labor or reducing it. Cantor represented the unanimous views of the leadership of both parties, which have only differed in how and how much to increase lifetime immigrants, guest workers and legalizations of unlawful foreign visitors. By stressing the opposite option — reductions in legal immigration — during his campaign against Cantor, victorious economics professor Dave Brat has suddenly given hope to the many members of Congress...

One of the sleeper issues surrounding the debate on amnesty for illegal immigrants – an inconvenient one that no proponent of a widespread amnesty wishes to acknowledge – is the devastating effect so-called immigration reform will have on African Americans. The black unemployment rate is almost 11 percent, far higher than that of any other group profiled by labor statistics. African Americans are disproportionately employed in lower-skilled jobs – the very same jobs immigrants take. As Steven Camarota asked in a recent column, why double immigration when so many people already aren’t working? Who will be harmed most by amnesty?...

since working in the summer can predict future job prospects, that matters. ... Hires of 16- to 19-year-olds in May and June dropped 12 percent in comparison to last year. The teen unemployment rate has been in decline in the past year ... teens who work evenings or summers are more likely to find better jobs and earn more money down the line. The reason summer jobs can predict future success is that they allow teens to get acquainted with the working world and to expand their networks. Interestingly, it barely matters what the job consists of.

When the CEO of the world's biggest company doubts the veracity of US economic data, you know you have a problem. After quarters of disappointing growth in the face of miraculous equity market performance; Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon warns that shoppers aren’t returning at the pace one might expect years after the recession peaked, despite mainstream media interpretation of the data showing unequivocal growth. Simply put, he exclaims, "the unemployment numbers particularly have been difficult to read with the number of people dropping out of the work force," adding that if we see a further drop in the participation...

Last Thursday, an Obama-centric mainstream media trumpeted the creation of 288,000 jobs and the reduction in the unemployment rate from 6.3 percent to 6.1 percent. Lost in the manufactured euphoria are the sobering details: America is well on its way to becoming a nation where millions of workers can only find part-time, lower-paying jobs. On the surface, the numbers are impressive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the aforementioned 288,000 jobs gain, while the household survey reported a gain of 407,000. Yet those numbers pale in comparison to the rise in the number of voluntary and involuntary part-time jobs,...

Why do we tax corporations? No, seriously — why? If you’re like most people and all New Democrats, your response will be “because that’s where the money is,” or some variant thereon. Corporations have lots of money, the thinking runs, and are unlikely to mind if the government helps itself to some of it. And since they don’t vote, it doesn’t much matter if they do mind. An economist, on the other hand, would point out that, one way or another, all of the income earned by a corporation finds its way back to the people who financed it, whether...