News

According to an article published recently in USA Today one of the latest economic surveys reports statistics that are actually good. For the first time since the recession began more companies say they're planning to hire people over the next 6 months versus cutting them. The difference is small, 24% predicting growth versus 20% still predicting cuts, but at this point I think we're all happy to take what we can get. The industries that are seeing the most positive growth are service related, while those still suffering are mostly in the manufacturing realm.

Recovery might be slow, but slow and moving is forward is a hell of a lot better than standing still or sliding backwards.

Via BloggingStocks

Best Buy is making trendy online social networking waves in the job market with a posting that appeared recently on their website that listed two preferred job qualifications: a graduate degree and 250 or more followers on Twitter.

Say what?

Yes, now your guilty online tweeting habit can be something to brag about on a job application. Of course you'll want to know your audience before you go pasting your follower count on every resume, but companies that want someone with online social media experience are getting creative with how they choose to weed out those who simply understand the internet and those who have a real online presence.

Geez, I don't even have 150 followers yet -- I better get tweeting!

(BTW, follow us on Twitter!)

June payrolls fell by 467,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was higher than the 365,000 jobs economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected employers would shed.

The BLS said job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services and construction. While the BLS called the 9.5 percent unemployment rate "little changed," the rate did climb from the previous month's rate, reaching a 26-year high. Still, the rise wasn't as steep as economists had projected. The number of unemployed persons (14.7 million) was little changed.

The job search just got that much more competitive. Get that resume together!

Read more over at DailyFinance.com

Many companies trying to stay afloat amidst the current economic slump are starting to trend away from layoffs and towards pay cuts as a way to save money. And like it or not most employees are stuck dealing with it, since rising unemployment rates mean they have fewer options and even less negotiating power.

Being underemployed and dealing with a significant drop in income can be almost as bad as being altogether unemployed, as both can mean important bills can't be paid and making less money now can have enormous impacts on the future in the way of 401K values and social security earnings.

Ugh, what a mess.