Recently in Employment Category

The regional U.S. Census Bureau in Boone is still seeking people to count their neighbors. They have a lot of jobs left and they'll start training in late March, and go through April and May.
The positions pay $11.50 an hour and a 50-cent-per-mile travel reimbursement but most people would be able to work right in their own communities. For more information or to schedule an application and skills test, call 832-5920.

Downbeat about today. Upbeat about tomorrow. With a new decade underway, Americans feel battered by hard times, record home foreclosures, stubbornly high unemployment rates and war. In the latest USA TODAY Poll, results show that people are fed up with Washington and convinced by more than 3 to 1 that the nation is heading in the wrong direction.

Even so, confidence that there will be better times ahead -- and that the classic American dream endures -- hasn't been extinguished. With an election coming up in November, legislators will feel pressured to get things done, and this is a tentative sign that the economy will turn around.

North Carolina's unemployment rate soared to 11.2 percent in December, surpassing the previous historic high of 11 percent, according to numbers released this week by the N.C. Employment Security Commission. The December unemployment rate surpassed the previous historic high of 11 percent, reached in May 2009.  The new rate is 0.5 percentage points higher than the 10.7 percent unemployment one month prior in November 2009. Unemployed workers in North Carolina have received $4.8 billion in benefits over the past year. Advocacy groups are calling for even more government support to offset the recession. Since December 2007, North Carolina has lost 248,000 total non-farm jobs, and 95,500 jobs in manufacturing employment alone. One year ago, in December 2008, the NC unemployment rate was 8.1 percent, 3.1 percent lower than last December's rate.

Watauga County's unemployment rates increased from 7 percent in October to 7.4 percent in November, according to the latest N.C. Employment Security Commission data. That equates to 1,744 eligible workers without jobs. Unemployment rates increased in 60 of North Carolina's 100 counties in November, according to statistics released today by the state's Employment Security Commission. Rates decreased in 31 counties, and remained the same in nine. The statewide unemployment rate is 10.7 percent.

North Carolina's unemployment rate dropped to 10.8 percent in November according to the newly released numbers from the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. According to officials, statewide employment increased by over 12,400 jobs last month. Last month, we reported a statewide unemployment rate of 11.1 percent in October, but officials revised October's rate to 10.9 percent. For the most part, the unemployment rate has been slightly falling since May, but November's 10.8 percent unemployment rate is still much higher than last November's 7.5 percent unemployment rate. The national unemployment rate for November is 10 percent.

On Friday, November 6, President Barack Obama signed into law The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, formerly The Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009.  As a result, according to opencongress.org, unemployed citizens of almost all states will be eligible for extended unemployment benefits for 14 weeks after their original unemployment benefits are exhausted, and citizens of states with an unemployment rate at or above 8.5 percent--such as North Carolina--can receive an extra six weeks of benefits after those 14 weeks of benefits are exhausted. Funded by stimulus dollars, the law extends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation of 2008 through December 31, adding potential third and fourth tiers of benefits. The federal extensions of unemployment benefits bring the total number of weeks in which a North Carolinian could potentially receive unemployment benefits to 99, which is the maximum number of weeks.

After challenging a group of corporate executives, union leaders and academics to help him take action on creating jobs, President Obama concluded a jobs summit he hosted Thursday by saying some of the ideas generated can be "immediately" adopted by his administration. Obama said that other ideas will become part of legislation for Congress to consider. While Obama acknowledged skepticism over the ability of the jobs summit to produce results, the president claimed progress toward an economic recovery -- even as the left wing of his party accused his administration of not doing enough to increase employment. Obama sought fresh ideas from the 130 corporate executives, small business owners and labor leaders who attended the jobs forum. The pressures to create jobs is coming from all sides -- businesses would like the White House to focus on free trade, Democrats on Capitol Hill on a jobs bill and many in the American public are narrowing in on deficit spending. The economy is getting closer to generating jobs for the first time in two years, but it probably won't be enough to stop the unemployment rate of 10.2 percent from rising.

North Carolina's unemployment rate increased from 10.8 percent to 11 percent in October, according to numbers released from the NC Employment Security Commission.  This is the first time the unemployment rate has risen since May. Furniture and fabricated metal production saw the most job losses in October, while local government and healthcare & social assistance saw the most job gains. The national unemployment rate for last month was 10.2 percent.