Jobs For Connecticut Now

From the Boston Globe: ”Key Massachusetts industries including the biotechnology and health care sectors are closely monitoring the battle over health care costs, entitlements, and debt that is unfolding in the nation’s capital, saying the outcome could have a hefty impact on the Bay State economy.

From the Boston Globe: ”Massachusetts faces a best case scenario of a “disappointingly slow’’ recovery, a radically changed view of the trajectory of a state economy that was once thought to be outpacing the nation’s, according to the assessment of economists from several local universities and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

From the Barrington Patch: ”At the invitation of the East Bay Chamber of Commerce, Keith Stokes, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, addressed local business and civic leaders at a breakfast at the Backroad Grille on Wednesday morning, April 6.

The session began with an overview of the Chafee Administration’s plan of attack for Rhode Island’s considerable budget woes.

“For the first time, we are taking a more strategic approach to economic development,” Stokes said. “At one time, we used large-scale revenue fixes to balance the budget, but those quick fixes are gone and we have to balance the budget with our resources.”

Stokes noted that continued budget deficits wreak havoc on economic development efforts, because they hamper the predictable delivery of services such as safety, health and infrastructure that are critical to growth. Stokes outlined the four primary components impacting economic development: land, labor, capital, and cost, and discussed Rhode Island’s relative strength in each area.”  To see the full article click here!

From the Barrington Patch: ”At the invitation of the East Bay Chamber of Commerce, Keith Stokes, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, addressed local business and civic leaders at a breakfast at the Backroad Grille on Wednesday morning, April 6.

The session began with an overview of the Chafee Administration’s plan of attack for Rhode Island’s considerable budget woes.

“For the first time, we are taking a more strategic approach to economic development,” Stokes said. “At one time, we used large-scale revenue fixes to balance the budget, but those quick fixes are gone and we have to balance the budget with our resources.”

Stokes noted that continued budget deficits wreak havoc on economic development efforts, because they hamper the predictable delivery of services such as safety, health and infrastructure that are critical to growth. Stokes outlined the four primary components impacting economic development: land, labor, capital, and cost, and discussed Rhode Island’s relative strength in each area.”  To see the full article click here!

From the Sun Chronicle:  “Unemployment nationally is at a two-year low, but you’d never know it from the morning crowd at the Attleboro Career Center on Mechanic Street earlier this week.

Cars packed nearby streets and a steady stream of area residents came in and out of the office in the ongoing struggle to find work in spite of governmental statistics that say the economy is improving.

“It’s frustrating,” said Ken Wills, a Foxboro heavy equipment operator who has been unemployed for more than a year. “There’s no construction jobs out there.”

Wills said he grew used to being laid off for a month or two each winter during good times, but he’s never been out of work this long.”  To see the full article click here!

From the Providence Journal: ”A plan by the global toy industry giant Hasbro Inc. of Pawtucket to expand employment in Rhode Island could be jeopardized if the state enacts a proposed change to its corporate-tax system, a Hasbro official said Wednesday.

Kathrin Belliveau, Hasbro vice president of corporate responsibility, said at a State House hearing that Hasbro has 6,000 workers worldwide, including about 1,400 in Rhode Island. “The vast majority of these 1,400 jobs are well-paid professional positions,” she said in a letter to the House Finance Committee.

The company plans to add about 500 people to its Rhode Island work force over the next decade, bringing total Hasbro employment in the state to nearly 2,000 people, she said. “We are actively looking into expanding in Providence, as well as upgrading our facility in Pawtucket to accommodate more people there as well,” she said. But she added, “Those decisions will be carefully reviewed based on a number of things, including the steps this state takes.”  To see the full article click here!

From Providence Business News: ”The unemployment rate in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metropolitan area declined in February to 12.1 percent of the labor force from 12.9 percent as seen in the same month a year earlier.

According to nonseasonally adjusted data released on Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed workers dropped to 85,700 last month from 91,800 a year earlier.

Nevertheless, when comparing the jobless rate to January, the Providence metro area added 1 percentage point.

Rhode Island’s nonseasonally adjusted jobless rate was 11.8 percent in February, down from 12.6 percent in 2010. On a national level, the rate was 9.5 percent last month, down from 10.4 percent a year earlier.”  To see the full article click here!

From the Boston Globe:  ”Massachusetts employers appear to be gaining confidence in the economic recovery, but a surprising number are also reporting trouble finding qualified candidates to fill job openings.

Associated Industries of Massachusetts’ monthly Business Confidence Index rose 2.8 points in March to stand at 54.0. The index works on a 100-point scale with any reading above 50 indicating more optimism than pessimism about business conditions.

AIM says 52 percent of employers answered “yes” when asked if — despite continued high unemployment — they were having trouble finding qualified job applicants. In some cases, employers said some applicants lacked the technical skills for a job while others possessed the technical skills but were lacking when it came to other relevant skills.”  To see the article click here!

From the Providence Journal: ”A financial services company plans to shut down its operation in Pawtucket later this year, and the city’s economy will lose about 330 jobs as a result.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., of New York, sometimes called BNY Mellon, will move its operation from Pawtucket to another of its locations about 40 miles away, in Westboro, Mass.

BNY Mellon offered jobs in Westboro to all the Pawtucket staff, company spokesman Joseph F. Ailinger Jr. said. About two-thirds of them accepted the offer, opting to re “We understand this choice [to relocate] is not feasible for everyone, and so those unable to relocate will be provided a severance option,” the company said in a statement. “To ensure no disruption for our clients, employees will be transitioned from the Pawtucket facility in phases to be completed by early fall.”

The layoffs come as Rhode Island continues to struggle with high unemployment. The state has had a double-digit jobless rate for 24 consecutive months. The state’s jobless rate was 11.2 percent last month, fourth-highest in the nation, federal figures show. More than 64,000 Rhode Islanders were officially counted as unemployed.”  To see the full article click here!