Whatcom County’s unemployment at 6.9 percent in April
Filed on 21. May, 2013 in News
Whatcom County’s unemployment rate in April followed similar trends seen in late spring over the past several years and fell to 6.9 percent, according to preliminary estimates from the Washington State Employment Security Department. The jobless rate from March 2013 was also revised from an initial 7.9 percent down to 7.7 percent. The county’s private [...]
Work Opportunities hosts open house, May 16
Filed on 15. May, 2013 in Events, Nonprofits
Work Opportunities, a local nonprofit organization that provides job-search support for people with disabilities, will host an open house event from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 16, at 192 E. Bakerview Road, Suite 202. The event will celebrate Work Opportunities recent move into The Balcos Business Center, its first brick-and-mortar location since [...]
Washington unemployment estimated at 7 percent in April
Filed on 15. May, 2013 in News
Washington state’s unemployment rate is continuing its recent decline, hitting an estimated 7 percent in April—the lowest point the jobless rate has been at since December 2008, according to the state’s Employment Security Department. The state added an estimated 3,800 jobs in April, seasonally adjusted. Economists also revised the March job numbers upward by nearly [...]
Skill gap seen in applicants for jobs in high-tech fields
Filed on 13. May, 2013 in News
After making a lap around the conference room in Fox Hall at Bellingham’s Hampton Inn, Will Hobbs takes a short break from mingling with dozens of potential employers, almost all with jobs to offer. Hobbs is at the Bellingham TechExpo and Job Fair, hosted by the nonprofit Technology Alliance Group for Northwest Washington, to scope out jobs [...]
Labor waits for its ship to come in | Guest column
Filed on 13. May, 2013 in Opinions
By Aaron Careaga Courtesy to The Bellingham Business Journal Education is intended to be a direct channel to meaningful employment and prosperity at the individual, state and federal levels, but the U.S. continues to struggle in igniting substantive economic recovery post-Great Recession. Some opine that a stagnant economy and chronically higher level of unemployment is the [...]
Whatcom County’s March unemployment rate at 7.9 percent
Filed on 23. Apr, 2013 in News
Whatcom County’s jobless rate has dropped below 8 percent for the first time in 2013, as the Washington State Employment Security Department’s initial jobless estimate for March put local unemployment at 7.9 percent. That is down from a revised rate of 8.4 percent in February of this year, and also down from an 8.1 percent [...]
Statewide unemployment fell in March, but job growth stalled
Filed on 17. Apr, 2013 in News
Washington state’s unemployment rate in March dropped to the lowest level since December 2008, according to initial estimates from the state’s Employment Security Department. But the latest numbers also showed mixed signals in Washington’s job growth. The state’s March unemployment rate dipped to 7.3 percent after three straight months of it holding at 7.5 percent. Yet as [...]
Recent WWU grads having more luck finding first jobs
Filed on 17. Apr, 2013 in News
The job market for recent Western Washington University graduates is improving, according to the school’s annual employment-survey report, the latest version of which was recently released by WWU’s Career Services Center. Eighty percent of bachelor’s degree recipients from the WWU class of 2011-2012 reported finding jobs within six months of graduation, compared with 75 percent [...]
Hiring “hard-to-place” workers pays off for Washington employers
Filed on 09. Apr, 2013 in News
Washington employers received a record $66 million in tax credits from the U.S. government for the 2011 tax-filing season for hiring certain hard-to-place job seekers. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit rewards employers who hire military veterans, people with disablities, ex-inmates, food-stamp recipients and individuals who receive Supplemental Security Income. The tax credit can range from [...]
WWU Spring Career Fair to be held April 18
Filed on 08. Apr, 2013 in Events
Western Washington University’s Spring Career Fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Thursday, April 18, in the Viking Union Multipurpose Room. Admission to the fair is free. The event is sponsored by WWU’s Career Services Center. The Spring Career Fair is a major recruiting event that allows students and the [...]
