U.S. Lost 20,000 Jobs in January, but Rate Dips to 9.7% - NYTimes.com

 

Labor Market Shows Signs of Reawakening in New Data

The American unemployment rate dipped from 10 percent to 9.7 percent in January, the Labor Department reported Friday, buoying hopes that the worst job market in at least a quarter-century is finally improving.

The economy shed another 20,000 net jobs during the course of the month, underscoring the considerable strains remaining in millions of American households. Yet that marked a continued decline in the pace of deterioration. Economists focused on a host of encouraging signs that suggested recovery following the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Manufacturing added 11,000 jobs in January, the first monthly increase since November 2007, while factories saw a modest increased in the length of the workweek. Temporary workers grew by 52,000, and the overall American workweek lengthened, reinforcing the view that commercial activity is awakening after more than two years of veritable hibernation.

“It does signal that the economy is continuing to improve,” said John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, N.C. “You don’t have a boom, but you have an economic recovery. It’s a positive sign.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/business/economy/06jobs.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

12 Things That Your Employees Don’t Like About You | Easy Small Business HR.com

 

In my role as an employee relations consultant for both supervisors and employees at various companies, I’ve met with scores of workers who have voiced a litany of concerns about the things that they don’t like about their managers.  The goal of this list below is not to pass judgment but, to make supervisors more aware of employee perceptions;  giving those managers who may identify with the concerns expressed an opportunity to make changes over time.

Some of the most common complaints that employees have leveled against their supervisors:

1. Regularly showing preferential treatment to some employees over others
2. Micromanager; no faith in the employee’s ability to perform the job
3. Supervisors who don’t have an understanding the work that they do and the daily challenges that they face
4. Too administrative, (inability to perform the day to day aspects of the job(s) of the people that they supervise
5. Lack of support; particularly when problems occur, (not watching their employees backs)
6. Not having direct access to you when needed
7. Lack of communication and feedback
8. Lack of acknowledgement or praise for special accomplishments on the job
9. Not working as hard as they do, (not in the office, always in meetings)
10. Not being an effective leader.  This perception includes the supervisor that lets peers walk all over them to not dealing immediately with disruptive or difficult employees
11. Not showing your “human” side
12. Not listening/Talking over them/Ignoring them

Dianne Shaddock is the Founder of Easy Small Business HR.com, a website which provides “Quick and Simple Human Resources Strategies for Small Businesses, Non Profits, and Entrepreneurs.  Go to Easy Small Business HR.com for more tips on how to hire and manage your staff more effectively.