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Three discount clothing stores are coming to Cook County, with the first one planned for a July 30th opening.
New Jersey-based Forman Mills Clothing Factory Warehouse will open in the Landings Shopping Center on 16855 Torrence Avenue, Lansing. A second store is scheduled to open within the next two months in the city’s North Austin neighborhood. The company is still negotiating the location of the third store, and says the three stores will create a total of 600 jobs.
From The New York Times | A fund to encourage small banks to make loans to small businesses, pulled from the Senate’s small-business jobs bill for lack of Republican support, has found its way back into the bill after all. Late Thursday evening, the Senate voted, 60 to 37, to end debate on an amendment that would restore the lending fund to the jobs bill.
Approval for Chicago’s third Wal-Mart will follow hard on the heels of the second if Mayor Richard Daley has his way.
Daley held a news conference today to call on the City Council Finance Committee to approve a long-discussed Wal-Mart store at the corner of 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue in the Chatham neighborhood.
The proposal is on the committee’s Friday agenda. Get the full story »
The Federal Reserve will try to push borrowing costs even lower if the job market continues to languish, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday, offering his clearest blueprint yet for possible additional monetary easing.
After three quarters of solid growth, the U.S. economy has been losing steam, with firms still reluctant to hire and the housing sector seemingly unable to exit a prolonged rut. Get the full story »
New U.S. claims for jobless benefits climbed more steeply than anticipated last week, according to a Labor Department report on Thursday that further underlined the drag on economic activity from persistently weak job markets.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 464,000 in the week ended July 17, the department said, more than erasing a decline in the prior week that included the Independence Day holiday. Get the full story »
An increasing number of employers are using credit checks to screen potential job applicants. So missed payments on your mortgage, car or credit card could keep you from getting hired.
According to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 60 percent of employers are using credit checks when filling at least some of their openings. Only 35 percent reported checking credit in a 2003 survey, and only about 13 percent did so 1996. Get the full story »
A Senate vote is scheduled this afternoon on extending the deadline to file for unemployment benefits through the end of November. The bill would cost $34 billion in additional deficit spending, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Senate GOP leaders have blocked a vote several times, highlighting deficit concerns by arguing that any benefits extension should be offset by spending cuts. Get the full story »
New U.S. weekly claims for jobless benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly two years while industrial production eked out a small gain in June, but producer prices fell for a third month providing more evidence that economic growth is slugglish. Get the full story »
From CNN | The weak economy will continue to keep a lid on salary increases this year, but the outlook for next year is slightly better, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said the median budget for salary increases — meaning the percentage of payroll that companies set aside for raises — stands at 2.5 percent for the second straight year in 2010. Get the full story »
U.S. job openings slipped in May, but the hiring rate climbed to its highest level in nearly two years, government data showed Tuesday.
Job openings, a measure of labor demand, dipped to 3.21 million from 3.30 million in April, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Get the full story »
Drugmaker Merck & Co. said Thursday it is shutting down eight manufacturing plants and eight research sites around the world, including two domestic locations, in the latest phase in its strategic pruning of operations.
The moves, which include consolidating some offices, are part of ongoing consolidation following Merck’s acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp. last November.
Orbitz Worldwide Inc. announced today it is hiring eBay Inc. executive Chris Orton as its chief marketing officer, effectively immediately.
Orton was senior director of Internet marketing at eBay, where he worked since 2003.
“We believe his deep experience of applying massive data sets to marketing opportunities will make Orbitz a more effective and efficient marketing organization,” Barney Harford, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago-based online travel company, said in a written statement.
