U.S. loses 263,000 jobs in September
By Kate Lorenz on Oct 2, 2009 in Employment Trends, Featured, Unemployment
We were waiting for two big announcements this morning at CareerBuilder. One was about Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics – our corporate headquarters are in downtown Chicago — and the other was about September’s unemployment numbers. Well, the Olympics are going to Rio de Janeiro and the job losses were higher than expected.
The Labor Department reported that U.S. employers trimmed 263,000 jobs last month. While that number is slightly higher than predicted and the more than the number in August (201,000), it still is much lower than the numbers we saw in late 2008 and into 2009. The largest job losses were in construction, manufacturing, retail and government.
“We’re not going to see job growth until the second half of next year. And even when it does start to grow, it’s going to be slow,” said Marissa Di Natale from Moody’s Economy.com in today’s New York Times Economix blog.
Because the economy is still healing, we’re likely to see some fluctuation month to month, but CareerBuilder’s recent survey indicates that less employers plan to decrease staff levels in Q4 compared to Q3. If you look at the number of jobs lost from May 2009 through September 2009, that average (307,000) was half of the average we saw from November 2008 to April 2009 (645,000).
While the national unemployment rate hit 9.8% in September, there are areas in the country where that rate is much lower and much higher. If you’re thinking of relocating to greener (as in money) pastures for work, take a look at this interactive map from Forbes. It breaks down the unemployment rate of every county in the United States. Did you know the unemployment rate in Bismarck, N.D. is 3.3%?
Although the rising unemployment rate may mean more candidates applying to jobs, attendees at a recent conference for recruiting professionals discussed how this influx of candidates has not made it any easier to find the right, qualified talent for available positions. Translation: As a job seeker, you might be down, but you’re definitely not out. You just need to be competitive – something you should practice in your job search no matter the market.
What you want to do is continue to market yourself aggressively and look to those areas that are hiring today. Currently, we’re seeing a demand for workers in health care, sales, customer service, technology and education.
Rob Ramsey | Oct 2, 2009 | Reply
What is the “accepted” answer to this interviewing question?
“In response to the interview question, ‘So what do you want to do next?’ The worst answer of all is to say, ‘I’m totally open … I’ll do anything,’ or ‘I’m completely flexible … I can go wherever the company’s greatest needs are.’ This answer leaves the hiring manager with the burden of figuring out where the candidate belongs in the organization, and no hiring manager has the time or energy to do that kind of work. And with the economy the way it is today, candidates are feeling the need to be flexible and keep their options open, and I am hearing from hiring managers [frustrated] over this kind of answer.” – Jeanne Knight, career and job search coach.
Thank you
Mj | Oct 5, 2009 | Reply
10 Careers to Avoid Boredom….RN’s DO NOT answer call lights, deal with families etc as you posted. They assess the patient x 1 and pass medications the little unknown CNA does the foot work and deals with the patient.
Allison | Nov 4, 2009 | Reply
The J.Lodge Corporation, a quality call services company, has sustained profitability since 1999 and accredits its success solely to its unique emnployee model that consists of disabled business Americans. J.Lodge is striving to provide part-time careers for disabled americans. Currently, J.Lodge is expanding and accepting applicaitons for those individuals who are interested in our company and who qualify for our positions. If anyone is interested, please visit: http://www.jlodge.com/careers and apply online. Join us and lets make a difference!