Economic Crisis, Jobs | featured news

The number of newly laid-off Americans filing jobless claims fell more than expected last week and retail sales grew in May for the first time in three months, fresh evidence that the worst of the recession may have past.

The Obama administration's fiscal stimulus plan will meet previous estimates to save 3.5 million U.S. jobs by the end of 2010, but the unemployment rate at that time may be higher due to further deterioration in the economy, a senior administration official said on Monday.

The economy lost 539,000 jobs in April, the government reported on Friday, a sign that the relentless pace of job losses was starting to level off.

The pace of private-sector U.S. job losses slowed dramatically last month, while future planned layoffs also declined, and the hard-hit housing sector showed signs of improvement last week.

There is life and work in parts of the economy, from health care workers to hard hats.

NEW YORK - With ''no end in sight'' for U.S. job losses amid a recession that could stretch into 2010, American workers will soon have to contend with another blow to their confidence: stagnant, or even falling wages. Lower wages, in turn, could further erode the outlook for the U.S. economy by hurting consumers' spending power.

U.S. private companies hemorrhaged nearly 700,000 jobs in February and the service sector slump deepened as the year-old recession showed little sign of abating, according to data released on Wednesday.

Private sector employment decreased by 522000 last month, according to ADP’s national employment report released Wednesday. The report is compiled from actual payroll data and measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month.

Microsoft Corp is considering significant layoffs across its various divisions, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the company’s plans.