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Park-employment rate

Yonhap News AgencyMay 20, 2013 03:33

SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye called Monday for smoother labor-management relations, saying they are a key condition for raising the country's employment rate to 70 percent, one of her major campaign promises ahead of last year's election. Park said advanced countries like Germany and the Netherlands were able to raise their employment rates based on "stable labor-management relations and a grand compromise" between labor, management and the government, Park said during a weekly meeting with senior secretaries.

Park-employment rate

Yonhap News AgencyMay 20, 2013 03:32

SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye called Monday for smoother labor-management relations, saying they are a key condition for raising the country's employment rate to 70 percent, one of her major campaign promises ahead of last year's election. Park said advanced countries like Germany and the Netherlands were able to raise their employment rates based on "stable labor-management relations and a grand compromise" between the two sides, Park said during a weekly meeting with senior secretaries.

Steady hiring pushes down unemployment rates in 40 US states in April; only 3 report increases

The Canadian PressMay 17, 2013 12:00

WASHINGTON - Solid hiring helped push down unemployment rates in 40 U.S. states last month, the most since November. The declines show job markets are improving in most areas of the country. The Labor Department says unemployment rates only rose in Louisiana, Tennessee and North Dakota. Rates were unchanged in seven states. California, New York and South Carolina all reported the largest declines in April unemployment. Each states rate fell by 0.4 percentage points. The report noted that 30 states added jobs in April; 18 reported fewer jobs.

Weekly US unemployment aid applications jump to 360,000, highest in 6 weeks

The Canadian PressMay 16, 2013 10:01

WASHINGTON - The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose 32,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, the most since late March. The jump came a week after applications had reached a five-year low. The less volatile four-week average rose just 1,250 to 339,250, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's a level consistent with modest job gains. "The underlying story in jobless claims continues to be one of gradual improvement," said Julia Coronado, an economist at BNP Paribas.

Slovenian official unemployment rate to 13.4% in March

Agence France-PresseMay 16, 2013 07:00

The Slovenian unemployment rate in March eased to 13.4 percent from 13.6 percent in February, the national statistics office said on Thursday. The total number of jobless in the eurozone country was 122,630 out of a 912,702-strong workforce compared to 124,066 a month earlier, the office said. In March 2012, the registered unemployment rate had stood at 12.0 percent. bk/hd

New Zealand jobless rate falls to three-year low

Agence France-PresseMay 10, 2013 12:46

New Zealand's unemployment rate fell 0.6 points to a three-year low of 6.2 percent in the three months to March 31, official figures released Thursday showed. While the market had expected unemployment to rise slightly on the 6.8 percent recorded in the December quarter, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said the number of people employed rose by 38,000. SNZ industry and labour statistics manager Diane Ramsay said the labour market had staged a strong turnaround after weakness in 2012.

Canada adds 12,500 jobs as unemployment rate holds steady at 7.2 per cent

The Canadian PressMay 10, 2013 09:30

OTTAWA - Canada's economy managed to eke out a meagre 12,500 net new jobs in April, but the fact that all of them were full-time brought some solace to a labour force outlook that has turned sour of late. The small pickup last month helped take the sting out of March's massive 54,500 contraction and kept the unemployment rate steady at 7.2 per cent. However, it was not enough to put job creation on the positive side of the ledger for 2013 as a whole. In the first four months of the year, Canada has seen a net loss of about 13,000 workers.

Obama pressed to do more on jobs, stagnant wages as he pushed his own initiatives

The Canadian PressMay 10, 2013 06:10

WASHINGTON - The nation's slowly improving jobs picture hides problems like stagnant wages and fewer working hours that strike directly at President Barack Obama's base of support — young people, racial minorities and the less affluent. As the president launches a new focus on jobs, his traditional allies contend Obama has put too much of an emphasis on a deficit-cutting grand bargain with Republicans at the expense of creating jobs.

Jobless claims fall to lowest level in almost five-and-half years

Thomson ReutersMay 9, 2013 20:15

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to its lowest level in nearly 5-1/2 years last week, signaling labor market resilience in the face of fiscal austerity. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Temporary foreign worker program could be distorting labour market needs: report

The Canadian PressMay 7, 2013 19:17

TORONTO - Canada's temporary foreign worker program was under renewed scrutiny Tuesday as a new report suggested the increasingly controversial system "could be distorting" the natural supply and demand of the country's labour market. The study from the University of Calgary's school of public policy suggests Canada isn't facing a wide-scale labour shortage but rather is experiencing a "serious mismatch" between the skills of its residents and the demands of the labour market.