WWW - Posts tagged Workweek at BloggingStocks

workweek posts

Economy Adds Only 36,000 Jobs in January

Posted Feb 4th 2011 5:20PM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Economic Data, Federal Reserve

The jobs number is disappointing at best. Only 36,000 jobs were added in January, according to the Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones news wires had forecast an increase of 136,000. The unemployment rate fell to 9%.

The key reason for such a poor showing was bad weather. However, the December number was increased to 121,000 jobs, from 103,000.

Commenting on the jobs situation, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said: "Until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established."

Continue reading Economy Adds Only 36,000 Jobs in January

Does a shorter workweek beat unemployment?

Posted Mar 2nd 2009 4:15PM by Beth Gaston Moon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Employees, Small Business, Recession, Financial Crisis

As the unemployment rate continues to creep toward the 10% threshold, some companies are exploring more creative ways to cut down on labor costs without handing out pink slips.

Case in point, as reviewed by The New York Times: the Vera Institute of Justice, which has reduced some employees' workweeks to 24 hours (or three days out of five). In this example, workers take a 40% reduction in salary as well, but no loss in benefits. Other companies require 32 hours of work in order to retain health care and other benefits.

Continue reading Does a shorter workweek beat unemployment?