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From: The Hiring Site
Date: Sat, 09 May 2009 01:07:29 +0000
To: <cpinkston@thecorporateplaybook.com>
Subject: The Hiring Site

The Hiring Site

Are You Doing Business in One of The Best Cities for College Grads?

Posted: 08 May 2009 10:48 AM PDT

Yep, it’s that time of year again: College Graduation. Parties, celebrations, awards, a sense of accomplishment — and, oh, figuring out a place to live! Many college graduates-to-be are considering relocation to new cities to find a fresh start, a fresh career, and a fresh place to mount their shiny new college diploma. Only this time, the game is a bit different, as more competition for jobs is coupled with an economy in the midst of a recession — and the stress of stretching those entry-level-job dollars is often immense. The cost of living is high, and upcoming grads need as many resources as they can get to help them decide where their dollars will be best spent in their initial months out of the dorms.

With this in mind, Apartments.com and CBcampus have provided results for the second annual Top Ten Best Cities for Recent College Graduates.

“Given the current economy, new grads looking to relocate are becoming increasingly concerned with the cost of living as they are faced with more competition for jobs than seen in previous years,” said Tammy Kotula, public relations and promotions manager at Apartments.com.

The results were based on three criteria:

Number of entry-level job openings
Cost of rent
Population of young adults

As it’s important for job seekers to understand their best living options, it is also important for employers to know where their city stacks up in the job atmosphere — and be aware of their competition in attracting top job seekers not only to their city, but to their company as well.

So… did your city make the list?

Latest BLS Report A Mix of Good, Not-So-Good News

Posted: 08 May 2009 08:27 AM PDT

The following is a re-post from our colleagues over at The Work Buzz, CareerBuilder’s job seeker blog:

While the BLS reported this morning that nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in April (-539,000) and the unemployment rate rose from 8.5 to 8.9 percent, a closer look shows some positive indicators. Yes, 5.7 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007. And yes, nearly all major private-sector industries lost jobs again in April.

BUT, while declines were widespread, the numbers of jobs lost receded compared to previous months. The loss of 539,000 jobs in April means that 142,000 fewer jobs were lost compared to the 681,000 lost in February (revised down 30,000), and 160,000 fewer compared to the 699,000 lost in March (revised down 36,000). This is the least amount of jobs lost since October, which saw a decline of 380,000 jobs.

And with regards to the unemployment rate, keep in mind that it is a lagging indicator of the economy. That’s why we look so closely at the number of jobs lost versus the unemployment rate. Consumer confidence, business investment and consumer spending usually recover ahead of the jobs market.

Next month will tell. If the number of jobs lost in May is less than what was lost in April, that could signal a road to recovery.

There was also some growth. Health care remained strong, adding 17,000 jobs; Government grew by 72,000 jobs, attributed mainly to the hiring of temporary workers for the 2010 census. But there were job gains - albeit small - in some other sectors:

Food manufacturing grew by 10,000 jobs.
Bookkeeping and accounting services added 3,000 jobs (keep in mind, it was tax season).
Management and technical consulting services added 2,000 jobs.
Gasoline stations, waste management, motion picture and sound recording, and membership associations added 1,000 jobs each.

So is the economy on the mend? We don’t have a crystal ball, but it’s worth reading this MSNBC article.