FeedPosted Mar 30th 2011 12:30PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Employees, Economic Data, Workspace, Recession
According to the ADP Employer Services Report, the private sector added 201,000 new jobs in March, basically in-line with 203,000 new jobs that analysts had been expecting to see.
February's figures were revised downwards to 208,000 from a previously estimated 216,000 new jobs.
March's employment gains bring the four-month average of new jobs to 211,000, more than enough to keep the labor track on path. Analysts estimate that the economy needs to add 125,000 new jobs each month in order to keep up with population growth, so any jobs over that figure result in a lower unemployment figures.
Continue reading Labor Market Continues to Show Signs of Improvement
Posted Apr 18th 2010 5:40PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Entrepreneurs, Workspace, Small Business, Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV)
All in all, there are many advantages to a home business. For example, you have more time to spend with your family, you do not have to deal with aggravating commutes, and there is even the home office tax deduction. If anything, the overall costs should be lower -- making it easier to get traction for your business.
Yet, there are definitely considerable risks, which are often overlooked. But the good news is that smart insurance planning can provide sufficient protection. And the prices are affordable, costing as little as $500 per year.
Continue reading Entrepreneur's Journal: Insuring Your Home Business from Disaster
Posted Apr 2nd 2010 6:30PM by Gary Sattler (RSS feed)
Filed under: Management, Internet, Interviews, Workspace, Stocks to Buy, Technology
In a world where one line of data can mean the difference between success or ruin for individuals, companies, or even entire countries, the validity and security of sensitive data has increasingly become of paramount concern. A raft of cyber-security companies are answering these important issues with solutions for everything from email privacy to network breach protection. One such company, and a stand out in its field, is Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC).
Continue reading An Interview with Carlos Solari of Computer Science Corp.
Posted Mar 24th 2010 1:00PM by Gary Sattler (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Internet, Next Big Thing, Workspace, Technology
There may soon be a chilling breeze blowing through the halls of Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. The reason for this coming chill is a just released application intended for monitoring employee communications on social networks. The new application, called Social Sentry, is being fielded by information technology powerhouse, Teneros, which has raised $92.5 million in venture capital over five rounds of funding.
Social Sentry differs from it's counterparts in that when employees leave their employer's computer network, this new communications monitoring software can follow those employees home, or to the library, or to an Internet cafe, or just about anywhere. Under the auspices of protecting proprietary business information, Social Sentry steps across the Fourth Amendment and goes where even law enforcement treads lightly.
Continue reading Teneros Blows a Chill over Social Networks
Posted Dec 10th 2009 4:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Other Issues, Good news, Press Releases, Products and Services, Management, Consumer Experience, Rants and Raves, Competitive Strategy, Marketing and Advertising, Next Big Thing, Money and Finance Today, Workspace, Media World, Headline News, AOL (AOL)

In the wee morning hours just prior to the market opening I had given some thought to shorting AOL Inc. (
AOL) on its first day as a newly independent company. Yes, that same company that owns Bloggingstocks.com and a multitude of other interesting Internet "content" icons (and some not yet so). However, I did not do it because it would have been too impulsive and that is rarely a good investment strategy.
I was stunned that we changed our logo. And we changed it to what seems like a team of logos instead of one. That seems bizarre to me if you're trying to build a brand. It is also ironic since we are planning on making money on advertising, and we will be muddling our own brand.
Continue reading AOL, I mean Aol, did not tank!
Posted Sep 24th 2009 5:00PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Employees, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Economic Data, Workspace, Federal Reserve, Recession, Financial Crisis

We got a bit of surprising news today, hearing that
new jobless claims fell to 530,000 last week.
Going into today's announcement from the Department of Labor, analysts had been expecting to see an increase of 5,000 new jobless claims last week. This marks the third week in a row that we have seen new jobless claims fall.
Continue reading New jobless claims drop last week
Posted Sep 8th 2009 2:30PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad News, Rants and Raves, Market Matters, Economic Data, Workspace, Financial Crisis

Last Friday the market reacted favorably (or less negatively) to the latest report from the Labor Department's unemployment figures of 9.7 percent in August, as employers cut 216,000 jobs last month. The percentage is up but the raw numbers are trending down allowing for a sigh of relief on Wall Street with the major indices all up over 1%.
Many would argue that when it comes to the truth, the government is prone to favor aesthetic figures
instead o
f the straight data. I tend to agree with this view as the numbers appear sculpted to be the least offensive.
Continue reading Labor-less Day
Posted Aug 18th 2009 5:10PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Good news, Products and Services, Management, Consumer Experience, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Employees, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Canada, Workspace, Politics, Recession, Financial Crisis

The government's "cash for clunkers" has been far more popular than anyone thought, prompting
General Motors to boost production at several factories to keep up with demand.
While not everyone is so convinced that the "cash for clunkers" program is good for the economy, there is no doubt that the big American car makers are enjoying the benefits. Five days ago I wrote about the decision by
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:
F) to
boost production by 15% above its prior estimates, and today General Motors announced it will raising output and bringing back employees that it had been forced to lay off.
Continue reading General Motors to boost output
Posted Jul 6th 2009 2:20PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Rants and Raves, Workspace, Technology, Recession

When I picked up my copy of Barron's weekly business journal from the front lawn this weekend I immediately felt something was different -- the weight of the journal and the thickness were definitely reduced by my measure. As a big fan of Barron's I thought, oh no, they are in trouble too.
When I examined it I found that the July 4 edition was a scant 32 pages. Last week's June 29 edition was 40 pages -- whoa --
a 20% reduction! That's a big reduction.
I keep my old copies of Barron's, so I was able to go back in time a ways to see if this was trend or an anomaly. First off I realized that the journal does fluctuate in length from week to week seemingly with the average being about 44 pages in the past few months. Then I went back further and noticed the trend was moving down. I thought well maybe it was the time if year, and of course the economy had to affect it too.
Continue reading Barron's struggling like everyone else
Posted Jul 3rd 2009 6:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and Raves, Competitive Strategy, Workspace, Media World, Headline News
While Michael Jackson is referred to affectionately by fans as the "King of Pop," he could have just as easily carried the title "The hardest working man in show business" except for the fact that elder statesmen of the music world, the late James Brown earned that title first.
While recriminations are being thrown around about the specific cause of Jackson's death, the primary reason he passed away may really have been overwork. In truth, his sleep disorder, eating disorder, drug dependency, and seemingly bizarre behavior at times may have all stemmed from his obsessiveness. He truly gave his fans everything he had in him right to the very end.
Continue reading Michael Jackson fireworks, the workaholic
Posted Jun 30th 2009 4:40PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Good news, Products and Services, Industry, Rants and Raves, Competitive Strategy, General Electric (GE), Workspace
The federal government, for better or worse, has been increasing the money supply as fast as it can in an attempt to prevent a collapse of our financial system, stabilize the housing market, improve the employment outlook and rehabilitate our nations infrastructure.
Most economists have some fear of inflation as a result of this, even if the fear is not for three to five years. To combat the increase in money supply we need to balance it out with an increase in productivity.
Continue reading GE invests in Michigan, USA -- new technology center
Posted May 20th 2009 12:30PM by Beth Gaston Moon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Employees, Workspace, Recession

Travel-industry experts hypothesize that employees may be
opting out of summertime travel this year, out of concern that their jobs will be deemed unnecessary or easily replaced while they are out of the office.
What's worse? Coming back from a week in the mountains to find a mountain of work, or a boss newly cognizant of the fact that you're not as indispensable as everyone thought! Nervous workers appear to be fearing the latter, and whether or not this is driven by paranoia and panic, the travel market is suffering.
"People are scared of losing their jobs and want to stay in touch with their work," one travel expert told
The Washington Times. Another noted that ". . . people feel guilty about indulging themselves and are nervous to leave their office for too long."
And one New York-based advertising firm's survey showed that just over half of parents asked said they planned to cut down on vacation spending.
Continue reading Nervous workers opt against vacation time
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