Is the Economy Growing or Just "Treading Water"?

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The U.S. lost 4.3 million jobs in President Obama's first 13 months in office and has stumbled to recover.

Hiring slowed dramatically in March, clouding optimism about the strength of the recovery, according to Annalyn Censky of CNN Money.

Employers added 120,000 jobs in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday, falling far short of economists' expectations.

The number marked a significant slowdown in hiring from February, when the economy added 240,000 jobs.

"It's discouraging that job growth was half of what it had been the previous month," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.

Job growth of around 120,000 is just about enough to keep up with population growth, and is therefore more like "treading water" than a major improvement, Owens said.

"It's a reminder that the U.S. recovery is not suddenly going to transform into a spectacular success, particularly not at a time when the rest of the world economy is stumbling," Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist of Capital Economics said in a note.

The hardest hit industry was retail, which lost 33,800 jobs, mostly at department stores.
On the positive side, manufacturers created 37,000 jobs, professional services created 31,000 jobs, and health care added 26,000 jobs.

To view the entire article, click here: http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/06/news/economy/jobs-report-unemployment/?hpt=hp_t3
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The State of the Union

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President Obama scarcely mentioned healthcare in his third State of the Union address Tuesday night, even as the healthcare reform law he championed is hanging in the balance at the Supreme Court.

The bulk of Tuesday night's address before a joint session of Congress focused largely on jobs and the economy, and touched on taxes, education, and fixing a "broken" and fiercely partisan Washington.

A poll cited by FOX News asked voters which statement they agree with more: “President Obama is making a good faith effort to deal with the country’s economic problems, but the Republicans in Congress are playing politics by blocking his proposals and programs.”

Or this: “President Obama has not provided leadership on the economy, and he is just blaming the Republicans in Congress as an excuse for not doing his job.”

Have you or someone you know been affected by a job loss in these recent years? What are your thoughts?

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/01/24/president-obama-and-state-our-future/#ixzz1kRgbnO8m
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Time to Re-Start the Job Hunt

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We've seen the headlines. Strong job-growth numbers in February and a slight dip in unemployment should encourage people to restart the job search — especially in the temporary job market. The unemployment rate fell to 8.9%, as the private sector added 222,000 jobs, according to today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to Market Watch, temporary jobs, in particular, are a good place to gain a toehold in the workforce, experts said. Of the 222,000 private sector jobs added in February, 15,500 were temporary, according to Jodi Chavez, senior vice president for Accounting Principles, a division of Adecco, a human resources firm.

When the economy starts to bounce back, temporary staffing firms are among the first to hire, said Chavez. Many companies are still “a little gun-shy” to sign on full-time employees, she added.

There should be other job opportunities for workers outside of temporary staffing because of the rejuvenated labor economy. People looking for work should check in with previous employers and with companies they have interviewed with in the past year or two. If they weren’t hiring last year, they may be hiring now.

It isn't going to hurt to let a previous employer know that you’re very interested in working with them and you’d like to come back.
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