Unemployment, Jobs | featured news

The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits last week unexpectedly rose to a one-month high, indicating firings are staying elevated even as the US economy grows. Some companies are trimming payrolls ...

Kudos to the Detroit News for a great story revealing that people are refusing to accept jobs because of government unemployment benefits. None of this should be surprising to people who understand that if you subsidize something, you get more of it.

The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance fell for the third straight week, according to weekly government data released Thursday.

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped for a second consecutive week, further evidence that the job market is slowing improving.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits jumped 24000 in the latest week, but the increase appeared to stem largely from the Easter holiday and other onetime factors that distorted the data.

While the increase in jobs over the past month provides hope that the economy's nascent recovery will continue to blossom, one troubling trend in Friday's monthly employment report continues to put a damper on the recovery.

As of last month, more than 6.5 million Americans have been without a job for at least six months, an all-time high, according to Labor Department data. That's more than double the amount this time last year.

Though the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.7 percent, the overall employment picture was greatly improved, with positive revisions to January and February.

The scheduled 4 percent pay rise was set to go into effect on Thursday and is on top of a 9 percent raise in the last three years, Governor David Paterson said. He reminded unions that in the past two years, more than 300,000 New Yorkers have lost jobs and nearly 9 percent of workers are unemployed.

President Barack Obama on Thursday faced pressure to help create jobs in African-American communities and deliver an immigration overhaul even as he tried to push healthcare reform across the finish line.

An emergency assistance program that saves thousands from foreclosure each year is in the national spotlight.