All Posts Tagged With: "manufacturing jobs"


Unemployment falls for the first time since April ‘08

 Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Fri, Aug 07 2009 | 0 Comments

jobless

Good news came out today about unemployment. In June, unemployment reached 9.5% and the numbers for July came out and unemployment actually fell to 9.4%. While the decrease isn’t much, it does mean that less jobs are being cut than before and people are actually finding work.

Some analysts were predicting the unemployment rate to go up to 9.6%, which is a slower increase than before, but they weren’t expecting a decrease like we have seen.

This good news may be a bit deceiving though. The workforce in July fell by 422,000 positions. That number is higher than the 155,000 losses in June. This difference in numbers would suggest that some of those out there are simply giving up the search for work altogether. If this is the case, then they wouldn’t be included in the unemployment figure because the unemployment percentage only includes those who are actively seeking employment but are unable to find it.

However, some sectors are showing promising signs of improvement. Take manufacturing for example. In July, 52,000 manufacturing jobs were lost. This is the first time since September 2008 where job losses in this sector were under 100,000.

In July, average hourly earnings also increase from $18.53 in June, to $18.56 an hour.

Overall, this news is promising. I am looking forward to seeing how things turn out in the long run. I am anxious to see how the government will operate when it is out of the recession. The current administration has only had to deal with bad economic news, and I am really looking forward to seeing how things will be handled when there’s no crisis to handle in the financial system.

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Fortune 100 Companies that are HIRING

 Michael Bowler | RSS | Thu, May 21 2009 | 3 Comments

hiring

5.1 million jobs were lost nationwide since the recession began, everywhere from technological corporations like Northrup Grumman to fast food chains like McDonald’s. With the current unemployment rate the highest it has been since your dad used to pack his lunch and head off to the steel mill during the Carter administration, it is easy to become one of those “discouraged workers” they talk about that do not factor into the unemployment rate.

As of the middle of April, some Fortune 100 companies have over 150 openings. Yes, a lot of big companies are cutting their work forces. In fact, some of the companies that are hiring are also cutting jobs at the same time. The point is not that they can hire. It’s what they can hire. After a good look at the top 100 of this year’s Fortune 500 list, at least 28 are hiring with at least 150 job openings.

Wal-Mart is hiring to fill new locations. They are hiring executives in their Bentonville, Arkansas office, local store managers, human resource managers, pharmacists, local customer service associates, and cashiers. Look for a “Super Wal-Mart” or a brand new Wal-Mart that just opened.

Okay, this one sounds a little hokey based on the article just posted here yesterday about Hewlett-Packard cutting manufacturing jobs, but during those cuts, HP is also hiring. They are looking for information technology (IT) professionals, human resource managers, research and development executives, marketing professionals, financiers and administrators. The key here is that they are trying to cut back on manufacturing payroll because sales are down. They are hiring for higher level and development jobs because they understand that in the ever changing technology field, they need the best college educated professionals to help their planning move forward. When the recession is ending, they want to come out on top of the computer business with some of the best products and services to blow their competition right out of the way. If you put in a résumé and get that job, you are looking at a long-term job that will help HP come back on top and ensure job security until you are telling your grandchildren stories about that old recession of 2008.

Positions are available with Bank of America in several areas including consumer banking, small business banking, credit cards, home loans, global banking, wealth management, technology, human resources, finance, communications, marketing and administration. Now that they are in much better shape, the job offers are out there again. They are expanding, hoping they can raise even more business capital and come out ahead in the banking game and do it early.

State Farm Insurance is hiring new insurance agents. There are positions in a variety of areas including claims and underwriting, finance, accounting and legal. The company aims to add 800 to 1000 new agent positions across the country, specifically in the Northeast, Texas and California.

Other companies hiring for similar positions include Wellpoint, Boeing, Microsoft, MetLife, UPS, Medco Health Solutions, Lowe’s, Time Warner, Sears, Supervalu, Johnson Controls, GMAC, Comcast Cable, Northrup Grumman, Coca-Cola, New York Life Insurance, Aetna, Motorola, Abbott Laboratories, General Dynamics, Prudential Financial, Humana, Liberty Mutual, and HCA. Interestingly enough, a lot of the areas that companies are hiring in correlate perfectly with an article that I wrote earlier this month. See The Most Financially Productive Areas to Live for more on that.

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Recession may be the longest since WWII

 Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Sun, Mar 08 2009 | 3 Comments

The recession of 1981-1982 was the worst recession, until now, since the Great Depression. Now, some are speculating that we are in a recession that will be worse than the one in the 80’s and that it will likely last at least through 2009.

The 81-82 recession, as well as the 73-75 recession, lasted 16 months. We will beat that figure if the current recession reaches past April.

Headlines comparing today’s recession to that of 81-82:

  • In January, reports showed 207,000 manufacturing jobs vanished in the largest one-month drop since October 1982.
  • Major automakers’ U.S. sales extended their deep slump in February, putting the industry on track for its worst sales month in more than 27 years.
  • Struggling homebuilders have just completed the worst year for new home sales since 1982.
  • There are 12.5 million people out of work today, topping the number of jobless in 1982.

Currently, the unemployment rates aren’t as high and he GDP hasn’t fallen as far, but it is getting closer and closer everyday. With the awful week Wall Street had last week, we can only hope that we’ll see a bottom soon.
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