WASHINGTON — Companies are still hesitating to ramp up hiring, even as more evidence emerges that the economy is slowly improving. Employers posted fewer job vacancies in September than the previous month, the second month of declines, according to a ...

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WASHINGTON — Employers added the most jobs in five months in October, with the education and health care sectors leading the way. But the unemployment rate, measured by a separate survey of households, remained stuck at 9.6 percent for the ...

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WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking jobless benefits jumped sharply last week, after two straight weeks of declines. The increase undermines hopes that unemployment claims, after falling four times in the previous five weeks, were on a sustained downward ...

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WASHINGTON — Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the second drop in a row and a hopeful sign the job market could be improving. The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for jobless benefits dropped by 21,000 ...

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WASHINGTON — The job market and the economy will improve only slightly next year, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists whose outlook for 2011 has dimmed over the past three months. The latest quarterly AP Economy Survey ...

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Maryland added 4,800 net new jobs in September, but the state’s unemployment rate climbed to 7.5 percent as more people entered the work force. The government sector led the growth as community colleges hired staff into new programs at the ...

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WASHINGTON — The job market has barely improved since January, making 2010 a lost year for the millions who are out of work. The number of people applying for jobless benefits and the high unemployment rate have essentially been static ...

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WASHINGTON — Consumer spending rose by a moderate amount in August while incomes increased by the largest amount in eight months, a gain that was propelled by the resumption of extended unemployment benefits. Spending increased 0.4 percent in August, matching ...

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WASHINGTON — Divisions within the Federal Reserve over how to pump up the economy and lower unemployment came into sharper view Wednesday. Three Fed officials squared off in competing speeches over how much help would come from one likely next ...

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While Labor Day has come and gone, the long-term prospects of the nation’s work force remain a central preoccupation for many. No stranger to unemployment and underemployment in the decades since the decline of our manufacturing prowess, Baltimore has wrestled ...

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