The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the October unemployment numbers and, unfortunately, they are worse than expected. The unemployment rate rose .4% over last month to 10.2% — the highest it’s been in 26 years. Economists had predicted the rate would hit 9.9%. Also in October, 190,000 jobs were lost, putting the nation’s total number of out of work people at 15.7 million. Of these, one-third or 5.6 million have been out of work for more than six months. The greatest losses were seen in the construction, manufacturing and retail sectors. 40,000 retail jobs were cut &#...

Parade Magazine ran a great feature in last weekend’s paper with the top 10 jobs for a recession. Some of them were the same-old standards I’ve been posting about for the last year (like in Job Search Tips for the Economic Recovery and Newsweek’s Top Recession Proof Careers). But there were a couple jobs on the list that caught me by surprise — hooray for innovation! Without further adieu, the first five from the list: Accountant — A good bean counter is more important than ever in this economy! Administrative Assistant — According to Parade, th...

If you are a recent college graduate, odds are you are taking the brunt of these tough economic times. Two years ago, the unemployment rate among college graduates was less than 3%. Today it’s more than 9%. And with a continuing lack of job creation, those numbers are likely to increase — since the ‘08 and ‘09 grads will soon be competing with the ‘10 grads for the limited number of entry level positions. According to a recent CBS report, the problem is being compounded by the growing debt loads most graduates now have. The average student graduates with $3K in...

It seems that every time the country starts to feel hopeful about the economy, we get another sobering job loss report to dash our spirits. After the slower-then-expected job loss report in August, economists were predicting the end of the recession by year’s end. Now, economists — and even the President — are warning us to brace for an even longer haul. According to the ADP National Employment Report, 254,000 jobs were lost in September — up from the 200,000 layoffs economists had been expecting. While the layoff rate was the smallest since July 2008 (a bright spot...

Time Magazine’s feature story this week is a sobering report on double digit unemployment. The magazine asks, frighteningly, if double-digit unemployment is here to stay. Economists had long since told us that when growth returned, jobs would return. But now, top labor analysts are wondering whether this truism still rings true. Has something fundamental changed (been destroyed) in our economy? What’s the solution? According to the Time reporter, it’s as “simple” as an employment-emergency bill, which will: guarantee jobless workers a basic set of rights for two...

Another first Friday of the month, another unemployment report. This one is a real mixed bag. First, the really bad news: The unemployment rate is 9.7% — the highest it has been since June, 1983. Unemployment creeped up from a rate of 9.4% in July, and many economists predict that it will top out at 10% by the end of the year. The news on the “expanded” rate of unemployment is even worse. It rose from 16.3% in July to 16.8% in August. Many economists believe this metric, which takes into account those who have given up searching out of frustration or who have taken a part-...

The Department of Labor reported this morning that the number of layoffs slowed to a net total of 247,000 jobs lost in July — the fewest layoffs in a year and significantly less than the 320,000 that analysts were predicting. The unemployment rate also declined for the first time in 15 months by one-tenth of a point, from 9.5 percent in June to 9.4 percent in July. At an upbeat press conference in the Rose Garden, President Obama declared that the “worst may be behind us” and that “today we’re pointed in the right direction.” Despite his optimism, the pre...

The economic recession took a turn for the worse last month, according to a Labor Department report released today. There was a net loss of 467,000 jobs in June, up from the 365,000 losses that economists were predicting. In May, the layoff rate had slowed significantly to 322,000 jobs lost. This month’ figures mark the first time in four months that the number of job layoffs rose from the previous month. Unfortunately the bad news doesn’t stop there. The unemployment rate also continued to climb to 9.5% — closing in on the 10% or more that President Obama predicted two w...

I came across an excellent post today by Denise Gabbard of the Cleveland Unemployment Examiner. She offers the most comprehensive link love I have ever seen on the subject of coping with unemployment. If you, or anyone you know, is currently looking for a job, you MUST check out Gabbard’s 100 tips, tools, and resources-to help you survive without a job. Reading her post got me wondering how many JobMonkey readers are currently looking for a job. So I put together this little poll to find out how the recession is affecting you personally. Please take a few seconds to answer it — and...

In an interview with Bloomberg News’ Al Hunt yesterday, President Obama confirmed what most economists are predicting — that the rate of unemployment will reach 10% by the end of this year. Although the rate of job loss has slowed over the past three months, employers have not started hiring new workers to keep pace with previous lay-offs. “We’ve got to produce 150,000 jobs every month just to keep pace,” the President told Al Hunt. In other words, the future is starting to look a little more secure for those of you who currently have a job. But for those of yo...