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Unemployment in the San Francisco metropolitan area rose slightly to 9.5 percent in August from 9.4 percent in July, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday. The region, which includes San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties, had 5.4 percent unemployment in August. 2008.

Silicon Valley unemployment rose to 12 percent in August from 11.8 percent in July and 6.4 percent in August 2008.

Source: SFBusinessTimes

Five states posted jobless rates above 12% in August, according to federal data released Friday:

• Michigan: 15.2%
• Nevada: 13.2%
• Rhode Island: 12.8%
• California: 12.2%
• Oregon: 12.2%

Source: CNNMoney

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell unexpectedly last week, a sign the labor market is deteriorating at a slower pace as the economy pulls out of the recession.

Applications dropped by 12,000 to 545,000 in the week ended Sept. 12, from a revised 557,000 the week before, Labor Department data showed today in Washington. The total number of people collecting unemployment insurance rose the prior week, to 6.23 million.

Source: Bloomberg

Microsoft is laying off 27 employees in Redmond and Bellevue, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department.
The company said in January it was planning to eliminate 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, while still creating 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs.

Source: The Seattle Times

Private non-farm employers cut 298,000 jobs in August, according to estimates by payroll company ADP, a figure that disappointed analysts’ expectations but still showed a gradual easing of job losses.

Businesses with fewer than 50 employees lost 122,000 jobs in August, the smallest decline since September 2008, according to the report. Mid-size businesses (with between 50 and 500 employees) lost 116,000 jobs, and large companies lost 60,000.

Source: BusinessWeek

Unemployment rates in 372 U.S. metropolitan areas continued their upward climb in July, Labor Department figures released Tuesday show.
Some 19 metros now have unemployment rates above 15%; eight are in California, hard-hit by the real-estate collapse, and five are in Michigan, suffering from the auto industry’s downturn.

Source: WSJ

Bay Shipbuilding Co. plans to lay off 405 employees, with additional job cuts possible due to current business conditions.

The layoffs are expected to begin by Oct. 30, according to a mass layoff notice filed Aug. 25 with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Source: The Business Journal of Milwaukee

The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance rose last week, the government said Thursday, surprising economists.

There were 576,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Aug. 15, up from a revised 561,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in a weekly report.

Source: CNNMoney

The number of people filing first-time claims for unemployment rose by 4,000 in the week ended Aug. 8, to 558,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 554,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Florida was among those states with the largest decreases in initial jobless claims, falling 3,358 in the week ended Aug. 1.

Source: TampaBayBizJournal

Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in July, raising the risk that a lack of consumer spending will temper a recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s.

Source: Bloomberg

Employers engaged in 2,994 mass layoffs last quarter, the Labor Department said Wednesday, taking 534,881 workers off the job. That’s more than 70% higher than the 1,756 mass layoff events in the same period last year, as the economy continued to weaken through the end of 2008 and into the beginning of this year.

Source: WSJ

First-time filings for state unemployment benefits declined by 38,000 to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 last week, while the number of people who continued to collect regular benefits rose by 69,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.31 million the prior week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Source: MarketWatch

The Labor Department said Thursday that the initial claims for unemployment aid rose by 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 584,000, above analysts’ estimates. But the figure is below the 617,000 new claims filed in late June, before the numbers began to be distorted by a shift in the timing of temporary auto shutdowns.

Source: GoogleNews, AP

The governors and congressional delegations of Vermont and New Hampshire are asking the Labor Department to move quickly to provide help to 250 workers to be laid off at the Ethan Allen furniture plant in Vermont.

Source: CNBC

~News submitted by upthecreek

The Labor Department said that initial claims for state unemployment insurance fell 52,000, the largest drop since December, to a much lower-than-expected seasonally adjusted 565,000 in the week ended July 4, from 617,000 the prior week. The seasonally adjusted data was distorted by an unusual pattern of layoffs in the automotive industry.

Source: Reuters

The Labor Department’s monthly jobs report, scheduled for June 5, may show payrolls at companies and government agencies shrank by 520,000 in May and unemployment rose to a 25-year high of 9.2 percent.

Source: Bloomberg

Millions of failed calls to the state’s unemployment insurance call centers are costing California taxpayers millions of real dollars.

The Employment Development Department pays 5 cents to Verizon each time a caller dials its toll-free numbers to file or get help with an unemployment insurance claim and EDD staff can’t handle the call. The message urges callers to file their claims through the department’s Web site.

That message service has cost taxpayers $4.9 million since the beginning of 2008.

Source: Sacramento Bee

According to Reuters: “The number of people remaining on the benefits roll after drawing an initial week of aid, or continued claims, rose 159,000 to a higher-than-forecast 4.776 million in the week ended January 17, the most recent week for which data is available.

• The Labor Department said this was the highest reading since its records on this series began in 1967
• Analysts had expected continued claims to be 4.65 million