JobsStat

Although the national unemployment rate reached 9.4 percent in May, Virginia’s job market continues to fair better than much of the country. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that only 7.1 percent of the city’s population was without work during the month. According to a recent press release, 30 new jobs will soon be created in Virginia.

Quebecor World Inc., a Canadian marketing and advertising company, has announced that they will be investing approximately $35.2 million to expand their operation in Frederick County. Two new printing pressed will be added to this facility, which will enable to company to create the new positions and retain 150 workers they already employee.

“Quebecor World has thrived in Frederick County for two decades,” said Virginia Governor Kaine in the recent press release. “It speaks volumes that the company’s Virginia operations were chosen for this expansion and increase in production. I am confident that Quebecor World will enjoy continued success in the Commonwealth.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership and Fredrick Country worked together to land this new project for the state. Virginia beat out both Pennsylvania and Tennessee to be the site of the expansion. In order to do this, Governor Kaine approved Quebecor World for a $300,000 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership Program. In order to make sure that the new workers are properly prepared, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide the training through their Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

“This is another example to show that Frederick County remains a highly attractive place for businesses to locate,” said the Chairman of the Fredrick County Board of Supervisors Richard Shickle. “What motivates a company like Quebecor World to come and stay here is Frederick County’s diverse business community, proven commitment to long term business growth and strong quality of life.”

The President and CEO of Quebecor World Jacques Mallette also seemed enthusiastic about this.

“This investment is another clear demonstration of our commitment to provide our customers with the most flexible and efficient platform available in the retail market today,” said Mallette in the release. “We are very pleased to be able to partner with the state of Virginia in this endeavor. This new equipment is strategically located to serve our customers and ensure they receive the highest return on their marketing investment.”

Quebecor World Inc. handles marketing and advertising for retailers, catalogers, branded-goods companies and other businesses. On top of this, they offer full-service print solutions to publishers. The company almost 90 different facilities throughout Canada, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru.

Since June of 2007, Rhode Island’s unemployment rate has been steadily rising. During the month of April the percentage of the population that was without work rose 0.5 percent from March’s 10.6 percent to 11.1 percent. This particularly significant considering the fact that one year ago, in April of 2008, only 7.1 percent of residents didn’t have jobs in Rhode Island, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While the state’s overall unemployment rate has been climbing for some time now, the joblessness level in Providence remained steady in April. According to the Bureau 11.4 percent of the metro area’s population is without work. A year ago, only 6.3 percent of Providence residents didn’t have jobs.

Over the course of the last 12 months, the Providence metro area has seen a 4.4 percent decline in jobs. Currently there are 548,500 jobs in the city and surrounding area, but the civilian workforce consists of 616,500 people. This means that competition for the existing available jobs is high.

During the last year all of the industries monitored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics have seen a loss of jobs, except for mining and logging, which remained flat.

The largest decline experienced in the state occurred in the construction sector, where there has been a 13.9 percent loss. Across the country this sector has been struggling due to falling demand for new housing projects. Since fewer people can afford to purchase homes at this time, it makes sense that the need for construction workers has been severely affected.

The manufacturing sector also posted a decline in jobs larger than 10 percent during the last 12 months. According to the Bureau, there are now 10.1 percent fewer positions in this industry than there was in April of 2008.

Providence job market will likely continue to be strained for the remainder of this year. Many experts don’t believe that recession will actually end until sometime next year. Even after these economic conditions begin to stabilize, it will likely take a year to two years before the area recovers.

While the recession has injured the economy in many areas across the country, the strife caused has been magnified in certain cities. Since Las Vegas’ financial well-being is rooted deeply in tourism, this area in particular has seen its share of problems recently. With money being tight for many individuals, fewer people can afford to visit the city—let alone gamble large sums of many at the many casinos.

As a result of this, casinos are suffering. Several have had to put large-scale construction projects on hold. This of course has affected a number of Las Vegas Jobs.

According to a recent press release, the troubles for one of these gaming moguls. Fontainebleau Las Vegas, LLC recently filed for a judge to expedite the resolution of the lawsuit it is currently involved in against its lenders. Fontainebleau feels that the lenders breached a contract, in which they agreed to lend the resort and casino $656 million for their current project. They had asked that the funds denied to them on March 3rd of this year be turned over to them immediately.

The revolver lenders involved are led by Bank of America. According to the press release they include: JP Morgan Chase, Barclays Bank, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Bank of Scotland, HSH Nordbank and MB Financial Bank.

As a result of being refused the money earlier, Fontainebleau decided to seek Chapter 11th bankruptcy protection this month. According to resort and casino’s lawyers, if Judge Jay Cristol sees fit to award Fontainebleau this money, then it is likely that construction on the 63-story project will resume quickly. They went on to say that a decision in the favor of Fontainebleau is the only way that the project will be completed.

By doing to this the area will receive a quick injection of construction jobs, which it greatly needs. Over the last year ending in April this industry has lost 15.2 percent of the jobs it provides, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

After the resort and casino is finished, the press release says that it will provide more than 8,000 permanent jobs in Las Vegas. Considering the fact that, as of April of this year, 10.4 percent of the city’s residents were without work, these positions could make a significant difference in the areas economy. Aside from these direct positions, a hiring of this size will also likely create many indirect jobs.

With the economy suffering, it’s no surprise that there are an abundance of job search engines popping up. A large number of people looking for employment means that the demand of sites offering job listings is high. One such new web site is JobOverdrive.com.

According to a recent press release, JobOverdrive was designed to be a one-top website for all things related to looking for employment. By creating a job search engine that can handle all the needs of those trying to find work, there is a good chance that more users will be attracted to the site.

Aside from access to job online, JobOverdrive will be offering users access to a resume build and distributor, assistance in creating cover letters, help tracking potential interviews, along with several other services.

The resume builder offered by JobOverdrive will give users access to more than just a few templates. In addition to this, the tool provided by the website enables users to tailor their resumes by their professional field and can create a document in only a few minutes.

In addition to this, the website has a tracking feature that gives members the ability to mange their job search, which helps to simplify the process of looking for employment. This system schedules follow up communication appointments for the user after they submit their resume to a particular employer. Since it’s been created as a interface, it allows users to manage their job search from one location, which negates the need to check multiple job boards in order to find positions to apply for.

Since this is a new website, JobOverdrive is offering a guarantee to attract those looking for employment. Those who are unable to find a job through the websites services will be eligible to receive $250. Since the website charges job seekers $39.95 a month this guarantee does help to offset the risk.

Although the difficult of finding jobs in Atlanta has been increasing over the few months leading up to March, the job market in the area recently begun to stabilize. Currently the metro area’s unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, which is a slight decline from the previous month’s 9.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To many this small decrease may appear unremarkable, but it is actually quite significant. Data from the Georgia Department of Labor shows that this was the first time in 20 months that the metro area did not experience a job loss.

Since this time several employers have announced that will be creating new Atlanta jobs. Delta, for example, is expecting to increase the number of individuals it employers in the area as part of its merger with another airline. Now one company has reported that it will be creating more than 500 jobs in Atlanta at its local call center.

Cbeyond Inc., which is assists local businesses by providing long-distance services, broadband Internet, mobile and other technological services, will be creating a new call center and training facility. As part of this new project, the company plans to create anywhere from 600 to 700 Atlanta jobs. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the positions that the company will be hiring for include sales, customer care, Information Technology and operations and marketing, among others.

This Atlanta-based company currently has approximately 700 employees and plans to have more than 1,400 before the end of 2013. The new facility is expected to be constructed at Cbeyond’s Interstate North Parkway location, which is off of Windy Hill Road and Interstate 75.

According the Atlanta Journal Constitution the Georgia Department of Economic Development says that the company is eligible for somewhere around $4,000 in tax credits per job they create, which is expected to be somewhere around $12.5 million during the course of the next five years. The Constitution went on to say that the company’s senior director Andy Hammons said the tax credits were “very important” in Cbeyond’s decision to expand their facility.

WRAL.com says that the company began with 15 people in 2000, which means they have grown fairly well. Currently Cbeyond provides services to approximately 44,000 small businesses in the area.

“We have built Cbeyond form the ground up in Georgia and we are pleased to continue expanding our operations here, said the company’s CEO Jim Geiger in a recent new release, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. “Considering the difficult times facing the U.S. economy, having the opportunity to bring much needed economic development to Atlanta is gratifying, and is a testament to our business model. Georgia’s talent pool is robust and those future employees will allow us to grow to the next level.”

Aside from the employees in Atlanta, Cbeyond has 200 workers located elsewhere.

The development of a new mine would create hundreds of Alaska jobs.

The Alaska Department of Law recently filed a supplemental brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting development of the Kensington Mine near Juneau. Gov. Sarah Palin has touted the importance of the mining industry to Alaska’s economy.

“Except for the oil and gas sector, mining jobs are the best-paying jobs in Alaska, with average annual wages over $80,000,” Palin said in a press release. “These jobs and the jobs created indirectly would be a tremendous boost to Southeast Alaska. Coeur-Alaska also has a good record of working with the university and tribal and ANCSA entities to train and hire Alaskans.”

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Many of the students now graduating college have fears about their abilities to find work. With the national media focusing so much attention of jobs lost due the recession, some of these individuals are concerned that their degrees won’t be enough to land them employment. According to a recent press release from CareerBuilder.com, these fears may have some grounding in reality.

Through a survey of employers the job search giant found that the number of employers planning to higher new graduates for entry-level positions this year has dropped in comparison to projections from the last two previous years. This means that the job market for graduates will be somewhat more competitive for 2009.

Every year CareerBuilder polls employers for its Annual College Job Forecast. This year 43 percent of employers who participated reported that they plan to hire recent graduates. This figure is down 13 percent since 2008’s 56 percent and 36 percent from 2007’s 79 percent.

The survey was conducted between February 20th and March 11th of this year. Altogether 2,543 hiring managers and other human resource professionals participated.

Aside from reporting a more competitive job market, CareerBuilder found that graduates have other concerns. Out of those participants that reported planning to hire graduates for entry level positions, 21 percent reported that they will lowering the starting salaries they offer such employees. Despite this, 68 percent said they plan to increase salaries, while 11 percent intend to raise them.

Approximately 33 percent of participants reported that they plan to start entry level workers off at somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000. Another 17 percent say that they will offer starting salaries from $40,000 to $50,000. Fourteen percent will start these employees off at more than $50,000, while 36 percent plan to give these workers less that $30,000 in compensation.

“While recent college graduates are facing a highly competitive job market right now, there are still opportunities out there,” said CareerBuilder’s President of its North American operation Brent Rasmussen in a recent press release. “The biggest challenge is showing relevant experience, which employers say is one of the most important factors they look for in applications from recent college graduates. This isn’t limited to professional work experience, so don’t get discouraged. Class work, school activities and volunteering also qualify as relevant experience and can be included in your resume as well.”

Employers also told CareerBuilder that the following activities on a resume makes a candidate more likely to receive a job offer; internships, part-time work in an unrelated field, volunteer work, involvement in school organizations, class work, mention of assisting in the management of sorority or fraternity activities, and the participation in sports.

Many HR experts see mobile friendly job search sites as the future. It seems like only a few years ago, cell phones were the size of bricks and only owned by overly pretentious yuppies a la American Psycho Patrick Bateman. Now, due to new technological advances, phones are about the size of the palm of your hand and owned by everyone from the elderly to children.

According to one article from the San Francisco Chronicle, cell phone users in America have grown in number tremendously over the last ten years, going from approximately 34 million to 209 million. At the U.S. Census Bureau’s last estimate, there are around 302 million people living in the country, which means that over one-third of the population owns a cell phone.

With the addition of such “goodies” as video games, e-mail capability and video games, cell phone users have come to expect for from their mobile devices. The creation and popularity of Apple’s iPhone has shown that cell phones can offer their users much more.

According to a recent article posted on PCMag.com, there are already a large number of applications created for job seekers and professionals who have iPhones. The article, entitled “The Best iPhone Apps for the Unemployed”, listed some of the best.

One of the most popular mobile job search tools available was beamMe CV. This application costs users $9.99 and enables users to upload a copy of their resume and send it to e-mail addresses and other cell phones.

Another popular mobile tool for job seekers is Craigster, which is available for only $.099. This is a version of the already web popular Cragslist. Users can access job listings, along with all other classified ads that can be viewed on the Internet site. After purchasing this app, iPhone users can also post their own ads.

Three of PCMag’s choices were free applications, including JobCompass, Jobs, and LinkedIn. The first of these is an app that finds job listings in the users area based on the keywords they type in. It program comes with a map which shows where the businesses that are hiring are located.

Jobs was designed by CareerBuilder, a very popular Internet job search engine, that works very similar to their website and the aforementioned JobCompass. Users can also e-mail potential job listings to themselves so that they can send in their resumes to the hiring employers later.

The last free application that is job search specific that made PCMag’s list was LinkedIn, an iPhone verision of the already popular professional social networking site.

Since these applications have become so popular, it is understandable that other job search sites are beginning to jump on board and not just for the iPhone. Job search sites that are mobile friendly to less complicated cell phones are beginning to surface. The number of these will likely continue to grow over the next few years, as well the number of people who use them.

Although the number of Boston Jobs (click here for more information) lost during the month of March has yet to be released, experts expect that the unemployment rate will continue to rise. In February the city’s jobless rate reached 7.4 percent after rising 0.2 percent from the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marked the 5th consecutive month that the figure has risen consistently. During the same month in 2008, only 4.3 percent of Boston residents were without work.

All of this has many concerned about their possibilities of finding new employment if they do happen to get laid off. Conducting a job search while the economy is struggling can be difficult, but the important thing is to keep at it.

Those looking for jobs in Boston should utilize multiple sources to maximize their chances of finding work. Newspapers, industry specific job boards, large-scale job search engines and social networking websites are all good places to check out.

Other good avenues for finding about employment opportunities include alumni associations and social and religious organizations. Meetings held by any of these groups can be great places to network with successful professionals who may known about an up coming position.

If any of these possibilities fail to yield a promising option, job seekers can try contacting a recruiting agency. Since companies that are hiring contacting these firms looking for new employees, at least you will know that they are aware of job vacancies.

Those who are still struggling to find work in Boston after doing all of this for six months should consider relocating. Many people find it necessary to move outside of their area during times of economic trouble in order to find work. Since an industry’s ability to generate jobs can differ from state to state, those professionals who are used to being employed by a struggling sector may have to try this to locate a job.

Washington, D.C. engineering jobs and other high-tech positions were recently ranked second among the top in the U.S., according to a report by the American Electronics Association.

The AEA’s Cybercities 2008 report used the data gathered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2006, which is the most recent information available, to reach its conclusions. The New York metro area topped the list, followed by D.C. and Silicon Valley.

New York had the most positions in the tech services sector, including telecomm, Internet services and computer training services and the Silicon Valley area led the U.S. in high tech manufacturing jobs. Washington D.C., however, had one of the highest concentrations of engineering jobs and computer systems design positions. Overall, there were 295,800 jobs in the area that were considering high tech employment.

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