Last week I thought I’d found the job I’d hate most of all (warning: it involves sewers, a shovel, and “fat mounds”), but then I read this New York Times profile of people who are employed as Internet content screeners, which appears to be the real world equivalent of web surfing in hell. [More]
unemployment
Senate Votes To End Stalemate On Extending Unemployment Benefits
By 7.20.10
The bill that will restore and extend unemployment benefits to millions of out of work Americans just got one step closer to reality this afternoon, with the Senate voting 60-40 to end the stalemate that had logjammed the legislation from being voted on. [More]
More Than 40 Experts Issue Call For More Government Stimulus And Tax Credits
By 7.20.10
Online news site The Daily Beast is apparently tired of this whole “floundering economy” thing, so it got more than a dozen economists and historians to come together and issue a manifesto yesterday calling on the U.S. government to “reboot America.” By the end of the day, the number of experts supporting the manifesto increased to more than 40. They argue that the government has to help return lost purchasing power to the unemployed and must use tax cuts and stimulus to boost overall demand, or we’ll never make it out of this slump. [More]
Jobs Report Out: 125,000 Pink Slips, Unemployment Falls To 9.5%
By 7.2.10
The much-watched Department of Labor’s jobs report came out today, and while it ain’t pretty, it ain’t ugly enough to make you stay home from the dance either. [More]
Filibuster Scuttles Jobless Benefits Restoration For Third Time
By 7.2.10
Happy Fourth of July weekend! To help you celebrate Independence Day, which includes independence from the government dole, a Senate filibuster has successfully prevented unemployment benefits from being extended for 1.3 million out of work citizens. [More]
Savings Rate Goes Up, But Spending Doesn't
By 6.29.10
As a nation, we saved more of our paychecks last month than any time since last September–nearly 4% of income went unspent. That worries economists, because it means we’re not spending at a high enough rate to support an economic recovery. But as the Washington Post notes, since unemployment remains high and most of the recent wage growth came from the government, consumers aren’t exactly comfortable with buying something shiny and new just because it’s on sale. [More]
10% Of Homeowners Just Missed A Mortgage Payment
By 5.20.10
The Mortgage Bankers Association says that if you just missed a morgage payment, you’re not alone — 10% of homeowners just did the same thing. [More]
Waitress Disses Customers On Facebook, Gets Fired
By 5.18.10
Brixx Pizza in North Carolina takes social media pretty seriously, because it fired a waitress after she complained on her Facebook page about a stingy couple who occupied a table for three hours and only left a $5 tip. [More]
If The Economy Added 290,000 New Jobs, Why Did The Unemployment Rate Go Up?
By 5.7.10
You might have noticed a few headlines this morning about the good jobs news — 290,000 new jobs were added in March — coupled with the rather grim realization that the unemployment rate climbed to 9.9%. What’s up with that? [More]
Woman Allegedly Fired For Carrying Breast Cancer Gene
By 5.4.10
A Connecticut woman is suing her ex-employer for firing her because she was genetically at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, according to her lawsuit. [More]
Irish Pub Starts Unemployment Aid Office
By 5.2.10
Ah, nothing like convenience! Irish natives thirsty for a drink and some legal work can now head to a one-stop shop for both pints and employment: O’Casey’s Restaurant and Irish pub in New York has converted its second floor into an unemployment center to help job-seekers find work. [More]
Ouch: Spain Has 20% Unemployment
By 4.30.10
The overall unemployment rate in the EU is about 10%, but Spain is being especially hard hit by the economy and has reached 20%. Ouch. [More]
Citibank Celebrates Record Profits By Treating Customers Like Deadbeats
By 4.22.10
Citicorp posted a $4.4 billion profit this past quarter. Pretty fantastic, right? How are they rewarding their loyal customers? By jacking their interest rates and closing their credit card accounts, of course. [More]
What? An Ad Agency Is Hiring 230 People? In This Economy?
By 4.9.10
Need a job? One green shoot of the economic recovery is the hiring glut going on over at the R/GA digital advertising agency, with 230 jobs open. That’s on top of the 130 they’ve already hired this year. But I thought advertising was dead, or at least severely atrophied? [More]
Job Cuts Continue, Despite Expected Gains
By 3.31.10
Once again, the private sector continued to shed jobs this month. But in an attempt to look on the not-so-bleak side of things, it was the smallest monthly decline in over two years. [More]
America's First Legal Male Prostitute Quits After Three Months
By 3.29.10
Markus, the first legal male prostitute in the U.S., hung his shingle at the Shady Lady Ranch in Nevada in January. Since then he’s had “fewer than 10 paying customers” according to the Associated Press (which seems to imply there were some free samples maybe?), so he’s quitting and going back into porn. In other words, there’s a new opening at Shady Lady, gentlemen. Wait, that totally didn’t sound right. [More]
Everything Is Five Bucks, And Completely Random, On Fiverr
By 3.24.10
Fiverr is a website where people post gigs they’re willing to do for five dollars. Does it work? I dunno, but it’s a lot of fun to read through the offers: someone will burn a small paper effigy of your enemy, or send you a sock puppet, or turn a photo into a cross-stitch pattern for you. My favorite is, “I will give you $10 if you find two people to give me $5 for $5.” [More]
62 DFAS Employees To Be Terminated For Bad Credit
By 3.22.10
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), a military payroll facility in Ohio, has told at least 62 of its employees that they will be terminated for having bad credit, reports WKYC. Troy Marshall, a 17-year veteran at the DFAS and one of the people being fired (incidentally, he’s also the president of a union that expanded jobs at the DFAS five years ago), told WKYC that he handles Social Security numbers and maiden names, but nothing else. “We are people. We are not just numbers. We are not just credit reports… Look at the whole person.” [More]
