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 ...

Tagged with: benefits hiring increase jobless jobless claims jobs Labor Department layoffs Unemployment

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 ...

Tagged with: benefits improvement job market Labor Department Unemployment

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 ...

Tagged with: consumer spending jobs Recession Unemployment

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 ...

Tagged with: maryland Unemployment unemployment rate

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 ...

Tagged with: jobs market Unemployment

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 ...

Tagged with: august consumer spending income spending Unemployment

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 ...

Tagged with: federal reserve Unemployment

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 ...

Tagged with: labor day Unemployment workforce

The loss of 1,400 U.S. Census jobs in August contributed to an increase in Maryland’s unemployment rate for the month, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Maryland’s unemployment rate inched up to 7.3 ...

Tagged with: maryland Unemployment

WASHINGTON — Unemployment fell in only 18 states last month, a much smaller number than in recent months and a sign that jobs remain scarce nationwide. The Labor Department says the jobless rate rose in 14 states and stayed the ...

Tagged with: jobs Labor Department Unemployment