Posts Tagged ‘labor market’

New Job-Training Programs Are Looking Good

Monday, July 26th, 2010

A new report shows job-training programs prove to be a great way to bolster employment numbers.

  • Job-training programs typically collaborate with specific industries (like construction and health care, for example).
  • Participation in a job-training program can significantly increase an unemployed or low-skilled worker’s likelihood of getting hired.
  • Certain elements from the programs contribute to their success, such as linking to employers and screening the participants.
  • These programs must identify employers’ needs, screen for suitable program participants, be able to fund the training and hire the staff needed to train.

Facts and Figures

  • Program participants earned an average of 29% more than those who didn’t attend.
  • Job-training programs are active in 40 states.

Best Quote

“It’s very easy for someone to say, ‘We have a sectoral-employment strategy,’ particularly when more money may be coming from Washington. We really wanted to make sure we were doing this with our eyes wide open, to help scale the positive findings in the study.” – Nadva K. Shmavonian, President of Public/Private Ventures, which authored the report

Show Me The Money: Labor Market’s On The Mend!

Friday, June 4th, 2010

May reports indicate the unemployment situation has stabilized for the first month in a long time.

  • More jobs were added in May 2010 than any other month since September 1983.
  • The service sector of the job market increased payrolls for the first time since the start of recession, i.e. in over two years.
  • May marks the fifth consecutive month of jobs gains in the U.S.

Facts & Figures

  • 55,000 private sector jobs and 458,000 public sector jobs were added in May, causing the employment rate to drop a tenth of a percent.
  • It’s estimated that two-thirds of the added jobs were temporary due to the 2010 U.S. Census, but regardless, May holds its record of most jobs added in 27 years.
  • Claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 10,000.

Best Quote

“Because what everyone is stating is it’s a jobless recovery, and I can’t emphasize enough the long decline we’ve had, I don’t want to minimize one month of growth, but I don’t want to get overly optimistic.” – Anthony Nieves, Chairman of the ISM Non-Manufacturing Survey Committee