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By Michael Oneal | Chief executives are flying out the door in
the wake of the economic downturn, according to data compiled by
Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
A 17-month high 132 CEOs left their companies nationwide during
February, the survey indicated, 48 percent more than the 89 CEO changes
announced in January and 61 percent higher than the outflow in February
of last year.
Assoicated Press | Legislation blending help for the jobless
with popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals is slated to
pass the Senate Wednesday over protests from conservatives who say it
adds too much to the $12.5 trillion national debt.
But compassion for the jobless and the political power of an annual
package of tax breaks is likely to produce a bipartisan vote to pass
the measure, even though it would add more than $130 billion to the
budget deficit over the next year and a half.
The bill would provide unemployment benefits of up to 99 weeks in many
states for people mired in joblessness as the economy slowly recovers
from the worst recession in decades. The measure easily cleared a
procedural hurdle Tuesday by a 66-34 vote, with eight Republicans
voting with Democrats to break a GOP filibuster.
By Michael Oneal
| The Illinois unemployment rate jumped to 11.3 percent in January from a revised rate of 11 percent in December, the state Department of Employment Security reported Tuesday.
The rate was the highest since August 1983 and a three month rolling average of payroll employment shows the state continues to lose jobs.
Hopefuls at a Chicago job fair in February. (AP)
By Mike Oneal | The ice may be thawing on Chicago-area hiring.
Local employers surveyed by the Manpower Employment Outlook said they
plan to hire at a healthy clip in this year’s second quarter, a big
turnaround from sentiment in the first quarter.
Eighteen percent of the companies interviewed said they plan to hire
more employees between April and June, Manpower said, while 3 percent
expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 75 percent expect to maintain
their current staff levels and 4 percent are not certain of their
hiring plans.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
and Zoe Galland
| There may be nothing like a recession to make workers more devoted to
their jobs, according to a new survey. Temporary-help company Kelly Services claims that 34 percent of
employees said they were now more loyal to their companies, while 14
percent were less loyal. Workers in Chicago are more loyal to their employers than
those in Houston or Boston: 32 percent of respondents in Chicago said they felt more loyal toward their employers, just
behind
Los Angeles’ 34 percent. 41 percent of Chicago’s respondents said they feel “totally committed” to
their company.
When asked to name one thing that would make them
more committed to their jobs, workers in Chicago as well as Boston said “more interesting or challenging work,” while workers in Los Angeles,
Northern California, and Houston said it’d have to be “higher salary or
benefits.”
Associated Press | Women with children earn almost a third less
than men and still face too many career obstacles, a global trade union
said in a report released Monday.
The persistent imbalance in household chores can hurt women’s careers,
the study of the International Trade Union Confederation concluded.
Women with kids earn on average 68 percent of what men make, and
overall, women make 74 percent of what men bring in, according to the
report.
The latest snapshot of the economy, though harder to interpret because
of the influence of the weather, was generally consistent with a slowly
improving job market in which layoffs have fallen sharply but vigorous
hiring remains elusive.
Associated Press | Company officials say there will be some 1,800 temporary jobs for union workers when Exelon begins a $300 million turbine-replacement project at the Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station north of Cordova this month.
By Sandra M. Jones |
AT&T is closing its 411 office in Chicago and laying off 84
directory assistance operators, according to a monthly layoff report
from the state of Illinois. The office at 10 S. Canal St. is scheduled to close in April.
The Dallas-based phone company has been consolidating its directory
assistance offices for years as more people rely on the Internet,
rather than 411, to look up phone numbers.
| Associated Press | New claims for jobless benefits fell last week in a sign that layoffs may be easing as the economy slowly recovers.
The Labor Department said that initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 469,000. That nearly matches Wall Street analysts’ estimates of 470,000. |
See also • 4Q productivity surges, labor costs drop |
Associated Press | There will be no interruption in unemployment
insurance benefit payments in Illinois because Congress passed a
one-month extension of existing programs this week.
As many as 15,000 Illinois workers each week would have exhausted their
unemployment benefits without congressional action. The extension runs
through April 5.
From the Times of Northwest Indiana | Lear Corp. plans to add 285 workers at its
Hammond seat plant, nearly tripling employment there, to
make seats for the Ford Explorer SUV. The Explorer will begin rolling of the
assembly line at Chicago’s Ford Torrence plant in the fourth-quarter of 2010.
Get the full story: nwitimes.com
McClatchy-Tribune News Service | As Caterpillar rebounds from
one of its worst years ever, rehiring continues at its Pontiac plant,
with 23 laid-off employees expected to return to work.
Four of those employees were on the job Monday, while another 19 are
expected to come back next week, said Larry Stine, financial secretary
for United Auto Workers Local 2096, which represents employees at the
plant.
Associated Press | The Senate on Tuesday passed a $10 billion
measure to maintain unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and
provide stopgap funding for highway programs after a holdout Republican
dropped stalling tactics that had generated a Washington firestorm.
Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning had been holding up action for days but
conceded after pressure intensified with Monday’s cutoff of road
funding and extended unemployment benefits and health insurance
subsidies for the jobless.
Republican Senator Jim Bunning. (EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo)
Associated Press | Sen. Jim Bunning has again blocked the Senate from
extending unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for the
jobless.
The Kentucky Republican objected Tuesday to a request by Maine Sen.
Susan Collins, a fellow Republican, to pass a 30-day extension of
jobless benefits and other expired measures. The measure would also
extend highway programs and prevent a big cut in Medicare payments to
doctors.
