Jobless Recovery

By Christopher S. Rugaber WASHINGTON -- The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 377,000, after a nearly four-year low the previous week. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications increased 21,000. Applications had plummeted two weeks ago ...

Workers who routinely track the balances of their 401(k) savings know that 2011 was a pretty dismal year for investing in stocks. The S&P 500, a broad stock index that includes about 75 percent of publicly traded U.S. companies, finished 2011 statistically where it began, meaning many investors ended the ...

WASHINGTON -- A burst of hiring in December pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest level in nearly three years, giving the economy a boost at the end of 2011. The Labor Department said Friday that employers added a net 200,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent, the lowest ...

Though the job market by several measures remains sluggish, the employment outlook for 2012 calls for continued, albeit modest, improvement. A recent survey by Manpower Inc. shows that many U.S. businesses expect to hire more workers during the first three months of the new year. "Slow, but steady momentum ...

By Steve Peoples WASHINGTON (AP) -- Setting a new bar for the nation's economy, President Barack Obama said the United States unemployment rate could fall to 8 percent before he faces re-election next November. The unemployment rate, currently at 8.6 percent, hasn't been at or below 8 percent since he ...

As the current job market continues to prove, competition among job seekers remains stiff. More than 14 million Americans are looking for work, so securing an interview in itself is reason to celebrate. To get the job, however, applicants need to impress hiring managers on several levels, and the key to ...

In yet another sign that recovery in the nation's labor market leaves much to be desired, a new report shows that employers cut more jobs in the first 11 months of 2011 than in all of 2010. Employers announced plans to eliminate 42,474 jobs in November, raising the total so far this year to 564,297 positions, ...

By economists' determinations, the recent recession the nation endured beginning in December 2007 officially ended in mid-2009. But for many jobless Americans the pain still lingers. More than two years into the rebound, job creation remains tepid, leading some to refer to the current economic situation as a ...

The escalating cost of a college education has many young people wondering whether a bachelor's degree is worth the expense. Given the current lackluster state of the job market, some are deciding that it's not worth going into debt for tens of thousands of dollars only to find themselves on the unemployment ...