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U.S. Jobless Claims Little Changed at 382,000

MarketWatch (09/20/12) Jeffrey Bartash

Applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 382,000 in the week ended Sept. 15, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected claims to drop to 375,000. Initial claims from two weeks ago, partly inflated by hurricane Isaac, were revised up to 385,000 from an original reading of 382,000. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, rose by 2,000 to 377,750, the highest level since late June.

Three Will Plead Guilty to Providing Illegal Workers to Wilkes-Barre Company

Citizens Voice (Pennsylvania) (09/19/12) Dave Janoski

Three people have agreed to plead guilty to federal charges for scheming to provide undocumented workers to an unnamed Wilkes-Barre manufacturer, the U.S. Attorney’s office reports. The defendants operated a temporary employment firm under the names Express Staffing Services and Four Seasons Services that provided “day laborers” under contracts with the Wilkes-Barre firm and other unnamed companies from 2007 through 2010. The number of workers involved was not included in the documents and it is uncertain if the firms were aware they were using undocumented workers. The defendants’ firm paid its undocumented workers cash “under the table,” without withholding federal, state, and local taxes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Court documents say losses by the state unemployment compensation program topped $45,000.

Census: Economy Showing Signs It’s Finally Bottomed Out

CBS News (09/20/12)

New 2011 census data being released today is a hopeful sign in an economic recovery that technically began in mid-2009. Supplemented with unpublished government figures as of the end of this year’s first quarter, the annual survey covers a year in which unemployment fell modestly from 9.6% to 8.9%. On the downside, the jobless rate remains stubbornly high at 8.1% and homeownership fell for a fifth consecutive year to 64.6%—the lowest in over a decade. More Americans than ever are also turning to food stamps. Taken as a whole, however, analysts say the latest census data provide broad-sweeping proof of a stabilizing U.S. economy.

Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University, points in particular to the upswing in mobility and to young males moving out of their parents’ homes—two signs that more young adults are testing out job prospects. He concludes, “We may be seeing the beginning of the American family’s recovery from the Great Recession. It could be the modest number of new jobs or simply the belief that the worst is over.”

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