Obama to Hold '09 Job Forum

CNNMoney.com says that President Obama plans to hold a job forum at the White House in December to brainstorm about job creation. Those invited to the forum will include CEOs, small business owners, economists, financial experts, and representatives from labor and non-profits. (Jobacle is patiently  awaiting our invite). The president is facing a 10.2% unemployment rate but says there have been encouraging signs of economic growth and a slowing of the loss of jobs in recent months, but also said employers are still reluctant to hire and millions are desperate to find work.

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Job Losses to Decrease in Early 2010?

Well, it looks like things are starting to look up!  The trend of employment in the U.S. strengthened for the second consecutive month, according to a report released Monday.

The Conference Board said that its October employment trends index rose to 89.3 from a revised 88.7 in September, which was originally reported as 88.5. The October reading was the highest since March 2009, but it was down 13.2% from a year ago.

"The historical relationship between the index and employment suggests that job losses will end in early 2010," by a source at the Conference Board. "While layoffs have certainly declined in recent months, we still expect to see employers adding hours to their existing workforce before hiring will strongly increase."

In October, the improving indicators were jobless claims, the number of temporary employees, industrial production and real manufacturing and trade sales.

Last Friday's government report on October employment showed that the U.S. labor markets are improving, but only slowly, and there are far more jobseekers than jobs available. That report showed payrolls fell by 190,000 last month and the layoffs in August and September were revised down. But the jobless rate jumped to 10.2% from 9.8% in September.  

More Unemployment Relief on the Way

There's another $24 billion in economic stimulus money coming to the unemployed folks who need it most.

The new bill provides 14 additional weeks of benefits for people who have exhausted their unemployment bennies or are on schedule to.  The length of unemployment pay varies from state to state, averaging around 33 weeks.  If your state is in really bad shape, with an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent or above, you will be entitled to an additional six weeks.

Approximately 2 million people are expected to be aided via the new monies.  It will now be possible to collect unemployment for up to 99 weeks if you (and your state) meet all of the criteria.

The Labor Department's Unemployment Report for October is due later today and should be quite telling.

Learn more about the bill via the Wall Street Journal video below.

Unemployment Rate Could Dictate Changes in Congress

If you are like me, you are asking yourself daily “Is the economy EVER going to get better?”. I'm beginning to feel there isn't a person in this world that has the answer. (IF you do, contact me. That valuable information could make us millions!!).

I wake up every morning wondering if this will be the day that I get called into “the room” where you are given your pink slip and then tossed out the door with nothing more than your small box of belongings, a false apology, and the strong urge to run into oncoming traffic.

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