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Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report the economy added 247,000 jobs in March down from 295,000 in February and 324,000 during the fourth quarter. Wages, for all but the most skilled professionals, continue to advance only slowly, and going forward good paying jobs and pay raises will likely be even scarcer for struggling middle and working class Americans. The headline unemployment rate is down to 5.5 percent, from the recession high of 10, largely because fewer adults are participating in the labor force—for example, the 7 million men ages 25 to 55 that neither have a job nor...

The labor force participation rate remained at a 36-year low of 62.8 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The participation rate, which is the percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population who participated in the labor force by either having a job during the month or actively seeking one, was 62.8 percent in November which matches the percentage since March 1978. In November, according to BLS, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 248,844,000. Of those, 156,397,000 participated in the labor force...

Economic Preview Aug. 19, 2012, 12:02 a.m. EDT Atlas shrugged? Manufacturing seems worn out By Greg Robb, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — There are signs that the manufacturing sector, which has led the economic recovery, is about to take a breather. “It seems like the [factory] sector is stuck in neutral,” said Guy Berger, an economist at RBS in New York. Several factors appear to be at work, economists said. Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation’s facility in Coshocton, Ohio. Weakness in the global economy is cutting back exports. And factory owners are uncertain about how the outcome of the November election and what...

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits edged higher last week although a trend reading fell close to a four-year low, pointing to ongoing healing in the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was in line with economists' forecasts in a Reuters poll.

Advocates for the unemployed have cheered a push by the Obama administration to ban discrimination against the jobless. But business groups and their allies are calling the effort unnecessary and counterproductive. The job creation bill that President Obama sent to Congress earlier this month includes a provision that would allow unsuccessful job applicants to sue if they think a company of 15 more employees denied them a job because they were unemployed. The provision would ban employment ads that explicitly declare the unemployed ineligible, with phrases like "Jobless need not apply." As The Lookout has reported, such ads appear to...

***excerpt***PRINCETON, NJ -- Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, is at 10.0% in mid-October -- essentially the same as the 10.1% at the end of September but up sharply from 9.4% in mid-September and 9.3% at the end of August. This mid-month measurement confirms the late September surge in joblessness that should be reflected in the government's Nov. 5 unemployment report.Certain groups continue to fare worse than the national average. For example, 14.2% of Americans aged 18 to 29 and 13.8% of those with no college education were unemployed in mid-October.

In short, Stein says No Way, No How and I believe him. I think he’s one of the sharpest minds in America today. (Therefore his movie, “Expelled,” has been effectively banned from public schools and dismissed unseen throughout academia!) Briefly, Stein observed that of the unemployed he knows, many have poor work habits and difficult personalities. At the moment I’m unemployed, and I’d have to concede that shoe fits me pretty well. But I’m unemployed more by choice than bad luck. Most of us are if you really dig–we’re not willing to take ANY job. I know how to get...

<p>The Houston area lost 102,800 jobs from December 2008 to December 2009, a loss of 3.9 percent, the commission reported.</p> <p>The commission also reported today that the local unemployment rate shot up to 8.8 percent in January from 8.2 percent in December.</p>

Washington White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Tuesday stepped up the war of words that the Obama administration has been directing at Sen. Jim Bunning (R) of Kentucky, saying at a morning meeting with reporters, “I don’t know how you negotiate with the irrational.” Since this past Thursday, Senator Bunning, who is not running for reelection, has been blocking an extension of unemployment and health benefits for jobless workers. He did it again Tuesday morning, objecting to a request by fellow a Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, to extend the expired benefits for 30 days. Mr. Gibbs has acknowledged...

WASHINGTON — The effort to end a Senate standoff over unemployment benefits and health coverage for the jobless escalated on Tuesday morning as Senator Susan Collins, the moderate Republican from Maine, became the latest lawmaker, and the first Republican, to try to override the objection of Senator Jim Bunning, Republican of Kentucky. The White House, meanwhile, called Mr. Bunning’s actions “irrational.” Ms. Collins, who took the floor shortly after the Senate convened, said her effort was being made on “behalf of numerous members of the Republican caucus who have expressed concerns to me.” “There are 500 Mainers whose benefits expired...

Ironically enough, the medicine applied by our state as the antidote for our ills has proven to be poison. The welfare state is killing our nation. Today entitlement spending makes up nearly half of our budget. Long term, we know that there will be no way to pay off our unfunded obligations — we will go bankrupt. There will be three options ultimately, though ultimately can come quite suddenly: default, hyperinflation or abolition of the welfare state. Default is considered by many to be an impossible option as it would likely lead to mass chaos given the necessary suspension of...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Depending on extended unemployment benefits to see you through the Great Recession? You'd better not: The Senate failed to push back the Feb. 28 deadline to apply for this safety net. Starting Monday, the jobless will no longer be able to apply for federal unemployment benefits or the COBRA health insurance subsidy. Federal unemployment benefits kick in after the basic state-funded 26 weeks of coverage expire. During the downturn, Congress has approved up to an additional 73 weeks, which it funds. These federal benefit weeks are divided into tiers, and the jobless must apply each time...

Educate for a Better Economy Sarah Carlsruh, December 11, 2009 “The unemployment rate is 10 percent but businesses are struggling to fill 2.6 million jobs because applicants lack required skills” observed a December 12th Politico article. In an effort to remedy this disconnect, the Business Roundtable recently launched The Springboard Project, an effort by a group of education and business leaders to develop policy recommendations to improve U.S. education and work training. According to their December report, “the United States ranks second-to-last among developed nations in postsecondary completion rates.” William D. Green, chairman of The Springboard Project said that: “Improving...

When the Obama administration put together it stimulus package all the talk was about building roads, fixing bridges, building schools … you know, the kind of jobs that people envision when they think of jobs that the government should encourage while improving our infrastructure. That’s why we heard incessant references to “shovel ready jobs.” It brought to mind images of people actually working, wielding shovels, running construction equipment, widening roads to fix traffic congestion, replacing dilapidated schools. In other words, building things. So how’s that working out in your neighborhood, city, country or state? In Oregon, those "shovel ready jobs"...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The unemployment rate has surpassed 10 percent for the first time since 1983.

What made Summers' frank comment important is that it suggests this just-add-gas relationship may now be malfunctioning. The American economy has been shedding jobs much, much faster than Okun's law predicts. According to that rough rule, we should be at about 8.5% unemployment today, not slipping toward 10%. Something new and possibly strange seems to be happening in this recession. Something unpredicted by the experts. "I don't think," Summers told the Peterson Institute crowd - deviating again from his text - "that anyone fully understands this phenomenon." And that raises some worrying questions. Will creating jobs be that much slower...

Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota said the bad economy prompted it to eliminate 9.5 positions, including the director of its two South Dakota clinics. Kate Looby confirmed she was laid off, and said she understands it was a financial decision. She has led the clinics since March 2003. Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Kathi Di Nicola said the organization felt it couldn't keep its public affairs staffing level and also maintain enough workers for health care services. She said the other positions cut were in Minnesota, and stressed that the Sioux Falls and Rapid City clinics both will...