Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
Senate Passes $140 Billion Bill Extending Jobless Claims (CNN)
The Senate on Wednesday approved a wide-ranging bill that would push back the deadline to file for extended unemployment insurance until year-end and extends dozens of expired tax breaks.
The bill, passed by a 62-36 vote, is the latest job creation effort to go before lawmakers, though it contains virtually no new initiatives to boost employment. [...]
Building a Better Teacher (New York Times)
ON A WINTER DAY five years ago, Doug Lemov realized he had a problem. After a successful career as a teacher, a principal and a charter-school founder, he was working as a consultant, hired by troubled schools eager — desperate, in some cases — for Lemov to tell them what to do to get better. [...]
More Temp Workers Are Becoming Permanent (USATODAY.com)
A growing number of businesses are converting temporary workers to permanent hires, heralding a warming job market.
“It’s definitely on the rise,” says Rob Wilson, president of Employco Group, a Chicago-area staffing firm.
Temporary jobs jumped by 48,000 in February to 2 million and are up 284,000 since September, the government said Friday. That’s a good sign: [...]
Jobless Claims Down, But Economy Stilled Mixed (USA Today)
New claims for unemployment benefits fell last week in a sign that layoffs may be easing as the economy slowly recovers, but economic reports are mixed.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 469,000. That nearly matches estimates of 470,000.
Still, improvement in the job market is [...]
Workers Wait On Promise Of Jobs As Obama Agenda Stalls On Hill (Washington Post)
One month after President Obama declared jobs his “number one focus,” Congress has been unable to push through a single measure aimed at putting people back to work, as lawmakers haggle over how best to create jobs and how much to spend in the face of soaring budget deficits.
On Friday, Obama’s jobs agenda stalled on [...]
DIAPPEARING JOBS: 10 Businesses In Trouble (Yahoo!)
People in almost every profession may feel like jobs are scarce right now. For many industries, this is a temporary situation. But jobs in some fields are expected to continue disappearing even after the economy picks up.
Is your industry on the decline? The federal government projects that a number of industries will lose jobs from [...]
New Report – Consumer Confidence Slips, Stocks Take A Hit (CNN Money)
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks tumbled Tuesday after a key measure of consumer confidence plunged, reflecting investors’ growing pessimism about the strength of the economic recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 100 points, or 1%. The 30-share Dow had lost as much as 115 points earlier.
The S&P 500 index (SPX) lost 13 points, or 1.2%. [...]
Senator Scott Brown Breaks Ranks With GOP To Help Block Jobs Bill Filibuster (L. A. Times)
Reporting from Washington – Senate Democrats leaped a key hurdle toward passing a scaled-down jobs bill Monday, gaining support from several Republicans — including the newest GOP senator, Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
The 62-30 vote to block a filibuster represented a victory for beleaguered Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who gambled that a handful of [...]
MIDDLE CLASS UPDATE: Despite Signs Of Recovery, Millions Face Years Of Unemployment (New York Times)
BUENA PARK, Calif. — Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits.
Economists fear that the nascent recovery will leave more people behind than in [...]
Mike Rose/Opinion: Race to the Top of What? Education Is About More Than Jobs (Truthdig)
The race is on. Forty-one states have just finished the mad dash to submit proposals for the Obama education initiative, Race to the Top. Now that the first round of competition is over we should be asking the basic questions that got lost in the flurry: What is the true purpose of all this reform? [...]
