Tracy Davidson

The job market got two optimistic signs Thursday as private sector employers added 157,000 positions in June and fewer people filed new claims for unemployment benefits, according to two reports. Payroll processing company ADP said private jobs grew rapidly in June — a figure that was much higher than expected and more than four times [...]

The Obama administration is trying to make it easier for homeowners who lose their jobs to keep their homes. The administration today will announce that two programs providing unemployed homeowners a few months’ forbearance on their mortgages will be extended to 12 months, said three administration officials speaking anonymously because the program has not been [...]

At a General Motors plant here, transmission assembly looks a lot like musical chairs. For a solid hour, Rick Rush repeatedly inserts a small piece of metal — the parking gear of a future pickup truck — into a slot, adds a spring and lowers hydraulic machines to bolt parts together and ensure they’re properly [...]

If you’re a newly-minted college grad (or the parent of one), you’ve probably already heard the welcome news that entry-level hiring is making a comeback. After an 11% decrease in 2010, the number of fresh bachelor’s degree holders finding jobs this year jumped 22%, to 35,372, or 8% more than in 2009. That’s according to [...]

Seasonal job prospects are so tight that three out of four teens won’t have a job this summer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “It’s about as bad as it gets,” says Joseph McLaughlin, senior research associate at the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. “Last summer, we reached a [...]

President Barack Obama hailed small-business owners in May, calling them the backbone of the nation’s economy. Statistics vary, but according to the federal Small Business Administration, small firms represent 99 percent of all private employers; employ just over half of all private sector employees; and pay 44 percent of America’s private payroll. The New Jersey [...]

Folks who turned to the sky Saturday evening looking for Harold Camping’s Rapture prediction to come true were prepared to travel light. A number of them had no jobs and no belongings: They were ready to be swept up into Heaven. Trouble is, Camping’s prediction was a bust, and his loyal followers who gave up [...]

Yet another amendment to the controversial paid-sick-leave bill will be introduced in City Council today to exclude “mom and pop” stores, but it’s unclear whether the measure will be voted on before Council’s break begins this month. It’s the latest amendment to the contentious legislation that would require Philadelphia employers to grant paid sick leave. [...]

Thirty-five percent of middle class Americans said they or someone in their household has experienced a physical symptom of stress related to the economy, according to a recent report by First Command Financial Services, a financial service provider. Most common were anxiety, changes in weight, sleeplessness, low energy and irritability. “These are health conditions that [...]

A measure cutting unemployment compensation costs by $630 million a year has stalled in the Pennsylvania House. That could open the door for a more limited bill that unanimously passed the Senate this week. Republican John Gordner said his bill would save about $60 million a year–less than a tenth of what the House legislation, [...]