Jobs For Connecticut Now

From the Providence Journal: “Rhode Island’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in March to 11.0 percent from 11.2 percent in February, and the number of jobs in the state grew by 1,000.

However, the number of employed Rhode Island residents dropped by 900, to 508,900, and the size of the state’s labor force also shrank, by 1,900, to 571,900, according to data released Friday by the state Department of Labor and Training.

“Nobody is cheering, rolling out banners that we’re at 11 percent,” DLT Director Charles J. Fogarty said. “It’s much too high. We’re not happy with it. The governor’s not happy with it, and we have to double our efforts to get this economy moving at a faster pace.”

The national unemployment rate dropped to 8.8 percent in March from 8.9 percent.”  To see the full article click here!

From Forbes: ”A spokesman says that 550 job seekers have attended a Hartford job fair organized by AT&T Inc. to fill more than 130 available posts in Connecticut.

AT&T says the available management and technical jobs are the result of expanded wireless and U-verse businesses. AT&T U-verse uses fiber optic technology and computer networking to deliver digital TV, high-speed internet and digital phone services.

Available jobs at the fair on Thursday include installation technicians, retail sales and sales management, network repair technicians and door-to-door sales.

Unemployment in Connecticut was 9 percent in February, the most recent month for which statistics are available.”  To see the article click here!

From Forbes: ”A spokesman says that 550 job seekers have attended a Hartford job fair organized by AT&T Inc. to fill more than 130 available posts in Connecticut.

AT&T says the available management and technical jobs are the result of expanded wireless and U-verse businesses. AT&T U-verse uses fiber optic technology and computer networking to deliver digital TV, high-speed internet and digital phone services.

Available jobs at the fair on Thursday include installation technicians, retail sales and sales management, network repair technicians and door-to-door sales.

Unemployment in Connecticut was 9 percent in February, the most recent month for which statistics are available.”  To see the article click here!

From the Providence Journal: “West Warwick leads most of Rhode Island in the percentage of adult residents who collected unemployment benefits, according to figures from the state Department of Labor and Training.

More than 5 percent of the town’s adults, or nearly 1,200 people, collected benefits the week of Dec. 12, the latest information available shows.

Dawn Rockwell, 39, has been collecting unemployment benefits since she lost her job as a pharmacy technician in 2009. She shares a West Warwick apartment with her 19-year-old daughter, Courtney Ventura, who’s also out of work.

“I apply for two to three jobs a day,” Rockwell said. “I’m not getting anything.”

Overall, some 29,800 Rhode Islanders collected jobless benefits in mid-December.

Though West Warwick has been hit hard, unemployment has touched every corner of the state, according to a Providence Journal analysis of the Labor Department figures. Even in Barrington, the community with the lowest rate, slightly more than 2 percent of adults, or about 250 people, collected jobless benefits.

The analysis also shows that the number of claims being paid statewide soared in 2008, after state and federal programs extended the time someone could collect benefits from the standard 26 weeks to 99 weeks.”  To see the full article click here!

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!