JobsStat

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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An energy shortage in Western Australia is now causing many to lose their jobs.

A recent explosion at the state’s main gas supply plant has caused the economy to suffer. As a result companies are struggling to pay their workers.

With profits down, employers are having to consider doing away with many jobs in Western Australia. According to UnionsWA Secretary Dave Robinson, many businesses are now telling significant portions of their staffs to go ahead and take annual leave due to the fact that they can not afford to compensate them for their work.

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One recruiting software company is making it easier for trucking companies to find job candidates.

Tentstreet, which supplies services designed to help truck fleets manage human resources and driver pools, is offering a small business edition of its software. According to Truck News, the Basic Version, which is available free-of-charge, provides fleets with 200 or fewer trucks with basic functions needed to improve driver recruitment.

“Hundreds of thousands of drivers have used this technology, which was previously available only to the larger carriers,” Craig Johnson, chief executive officer of Tenstreet, said in the article. “Now anyone can use it, and we decided now would be a great time to make this available. That’s because we are doing this, in part, to support the smaller carriers that need a better way to recruit drivers but can’t afford it in this down economy.”

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Rising unemployment and constant media attention focused on the national recession has many worried about their jobs. Although many industries have been hit particularly hard, some sectors continue to provide jobs. According to a recent report from TechAmerica, certain areas are still creating new technology jobs.

TechAmerica’s yearly Cyberstates report found that one of the best areas in the country for jobs in technology is Virginia. The state ranked 5th in the nation, showing that employers in the area added 5,300 jobs in 2007, which was a 2 percent increase.

The most recent data available for many states comes from 2007. The problem with this is the fact that the effects from the recession won’t show up in this information.

The largest part of the tech industry in Virginia during this time was computer systems design and services related to this spatiality, according to the report. Approximately 126,400 people were employed in this sector in the area and it generated 7,400 jobs during the course of 2007. Because of this, the state was ranked 2nd in the nation for this type of technology jobs after California.

Another area of technology employment that grew according to TechAmerica in Virginia was the technology manufacturing sector. Employers in the area added 400 jobs. In addition to this, the software publishing part of the industry created 200 jobs.

Parts of the industry that lost technology positions in 2007 included communications services, which did away with 1,300 positions, engineering services, where employers cut 1,000 jobs, and research and development and testing labs, where 300 positions were done away with. Despite all of this, Virginia still managed to be named the 5th in the country for the 4th year in a row.

Near by Maryland also came in fairly high, with TechAmerica ranking the state 13th in the country. Despite this, Maryland only added 77 jobs in this industry during 2007.

The largest area of growth for the industry in Maryland was computer systems designs, where employers created 1,200 jobs. Another 100 jobs were created by engineering services. The fact that the state saw a decrease of 1,600 positions in other parts of the industry undid much of the good that the newly generated jobs could have done, causing a net gain of only 77 positions.

The District of Columbia didn’t fair as well, coming in at 36th in the country. Employers in the area did away with around 2,900 positions in 2007. Despite this, D.C. still has one of the highest concentrations of technology jobs in the country.

Although all of these statistics tell us little about the current state of the industry, according to data from the end of 2008, technology continues to do better than many other sectors in the country.

In the State of Minnesota, a trial that allows people to search through court records - information often contained in background checks - turned out to be successful.

More than 1.2 million searches were conducted during the first year that Minnesota’s district court records were made accessible over the Internet. Minnesota Public Access Remote became available through the new statewide court records database, the Minnesota Court Information System.

According to an article by the St. Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report, the system took five years to complete and cost about $30 million. The system combines 10 databases that are used around the state and includes case records dating back to the 1970s.

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Florida Governor Charlie Crist has applauded the most recent film and entertainment industry figures showing that film and entertainment in the state is a $17.9-billion-a-year industry that generates 207,000 industry and related jobs in Florida. The Governor met with Florida Film Commissioner Lucia Fishburne and industry leaders to discuss the importance of film and entertainment in Florida, which is projected to grow jobs faster than any other targeted industry in the Sunshine State.

“As we continue to seek growth opportunities for Florida’s economy, it is important to remember the significant role film and entertainment plays in our state, generating more than 200,000 Florida jobs,” said Governor Crist, who hosted the roundtable in Tallahassee.

The Office of Film & Entertainment, within the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, recently conducted an independent study showing that in 2007, Florida’s film and entertainment-related spending accounted for:

• $17.9 billion in Gross State Product (GSP);
• $8.5 billion in income to Floridians; and
• $498 million in tax revenue.

The study also found that film and entertainment in Florida directly employed nearly 102,000 people with an average wage of $57,700. The industry also generated some 105,000 related spinoff jobs in construction, retail, and professional services.

Florida is currently home to hit television series Burn Notice, filmed in South Florida. The Emmy-nominated show infused more than $28.6 million into South Florida’s economy during the first two seasons and has created more than 2,700 jobs for its residents. They are currently in production on their third season and plan to spend an estimated additional $17 million in Florida.

The film and entertainment industry is unique in that the economic benefits extend into other industries, such as restaurants, lodging, retail, construction and tourism. Because of this, Florida-based productions help bolster job creation and generate revenue for an increased number of residents and businesses. Every $1 spent on a production within Florida generates an additional 95 cents, giving the film and entertainment industry a total economic impact of $29 billion statewide.

In July 2004, Florida began offering cash rebate incentives through the Governor’s Office of Film & Entertainment to attract additional productions to the state in order to foster growth in the industry and boost local and state economies.

Bad news for jobs in Chicago, as Resurrection Health Care (RHC) has announed the elimination of 125 management, ambulatory services and system support positions. Eighty-one employees were laid off and an additional 44 vacant positions will not be filled. Most of the affected positions were managers in corporate system services areas; none of the employees provided bedside care. Less than one percent of the System’s work force of more than 14,000 employees was affected.

RHC joins a growing number of local hospitals and health systems that have been implementing various cost-cutting measures in response to a deteriorating economy that has impacted the entire health care industry.

Resurrection Health Care lost $73 million in 2008, and projects additional significant losses in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.

In addition to expense reduction, Resurrection has undertaken several concurrent initiatives that focus on improving clinical quality, expanding and realigning relationships with physicians, growth opportunities aimed at long-term viability of the System, and implementing quality and productivity best practices.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has launched a free new career toolkit to give college students a competitive advantage in their job search. The online material, titled “Recession-Proof Your Job Search: How to up your chances in a down economy,” features short video vignettes with career tips, a video Q&A addressing students’ top-of-mind career questions and downloadable worksheets to help students develop a career plan that maximizes employment opportunities.

The interactive toolkit, available at no cost through http://www.pwc.tv, provides students with sound, objective advice that assists their job search efforts during this difficult economic period. It can be valuable not only for graduating seniors, but also underclassmen seeking internships or looking for guidance on how to shape their personal brand. The materials are being distributed to career services offices and faculty at more than 200 U.S. colleges and universities.

PricewaterhouseCoopers partnered with Lindsey Pollak, career development specialist and author of “Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World,” to create the dynamic, interactive toolkit. The online resource leverages content from successful workshops recently conducted at The University of Texas at Austin and The Ohio State University. As part of the toolkit, Pollak is hosting a blog that enables students to ask additional career development questions.

PwC is one of the largest employers of college graduates in the United States. While the firm’s recruiting strategy is adapting to meet client demands and economic conditions, PwC expects to hire approximately 3,000 college graduates in 2009 - roughly the same number as 2008.

With the current condition of the economy, many people are in the process of searching for a job. The problem is, with fewer employers hiring, there are so few jobs in comparison to the number of job seekers that competition is high. To make matters worse many people have trouble deciding where to start their job search. At the same time, newspapers are experiencing a decline in subscriptions and are, therefore, looking for any way to bring in or keep readers. Because of this, one job search website has paired up with a newspaper in order to benefit both.

In a recent press release, The Washington Post and Simply Hired announced their new partnership. Through this collaboration Washingtonpost.com users across the nation will now be able to access Simply Hired’s database of 3 million jobs listed throughout the country.

Through Simply Hired, Washingtonpost.com users will be provided with targeted job widgets on news pages. Job seekers will be able to tailor their search to a variety of specifications, enabling them to find the positions in their area that best suit their needs. The job search Web site will be supplementing The Washington Post’s already existing large number of listings of job ads in the Washington D.C. Metro area by adding positions for everyone across the country through their new National Jobs channel.

“The Washington Post has long been a top destination for job seekers in the D.C. area and we’ve found that many of our national visitors desire that same service,” said the General Manager of Washington Post Digital Goli Sheikholeslami in the press release. “Now anyone who comes to washingtonpost.com will be able to search for jobs in their area, and be delivered relevant job listings alongside the news they are already reading.”

“During these hard economic times, the Washington Post is providing its online readers a great resource for finding employment,” Gautam Godhwani, who the Co-founder and CEO of Simply Hired, commented. “In addition, anyone looking to fill open jobs will have the opportunity to tap into this intelligent and informed audience of active and passive job seekers.”
The new National Jobs channel can be viewed at http://nationaljobs.washingtonpost.com.

Simply Hired currently has over 5 million job listings for positions throughout the world and around 5,000 job search partners including MySpace and LinkedIn. It also has the largest set of professional applications for Facebook.

The Washington Post is one of the more popular newspapers in the country. Its online counterpart puts award-winning journalism together with state-of-art technology.