More Germans out of work in August – Yahoo! News

BERLIN AP — The number of Germans out of work increased slightly in August, the Federal Labor Agency said Wednesday, in a further indication that Europe’s economic powerhouse is slowing down.The agency reported that 2.945 million people registered as unemployed during August, 5,000 more than in July. The increase was slight enough to leave the unadjusted jobless rate steady at 7 percent.Yet the news comes on the heels of other economic indicators that point to a slowdown in the German economy, which had driven growth in the 17 nation eurozone over the past 18 months of market jitters induced by the debt crisis.Labor agency chief Frank-Juergen Weise said the slight increase was due to the onset of the summer holidays in Germany’s economically important southern states. Germany’s 16 states stagger the start of their school summer vacations.”The drop in joblessness is also losing momentum for cyclical reasons and due to it becoming increasingly difficult in some sectors to still find qualified personnel in the pool of the remaining unemployed,” Timo Klein, analyst at IHS Global Insight, wrote in a research note.Compared with a year earlier, Weise noted there was still a big improvement, with unemployment down by 238,000.The outlook, however, has darkened over the summer.Two key surveys last week showed German consumer and business confidence slipping more that expected in August.Germany’s economy barely grew in the second quarter and there are fears growth may fall short of projections in the third.

via More Germans out of work in August – Yahoo! News.

Business News, Stock Quotes, Investment Advice – DailyFinance

WTI crude oil hit $100 a barrel briefly Thursday, a rise at partly attributed to an apparent settlement for the Greece debt crisis. The price of gasoline usually lags the price of oil, so if that pattern holds, consumers can expect higher gas prices soon — unless certain other factors come into play.

via Business News, Stock Quotes, Investment Advice – DailyFinance.

Business News, Stock Quotes, Investment Advice – DailyFinance

Banks received some long-awaited news last week: the Fed capped the fees they can charge to retailers on debit card transactions at roughly 24 cents per transaction, down from an average of 44 cents. It was better than they’d feared: The initial proposal was a 12 cent cap. But how will all those pennies add up for consumers?

via Business News, Stock Quotes, Investment Advice – DailyFinance.

Study: Entrepreneurs First Get Down to Business in the Classroom – DailyFinance

Entrepreneurs aren’t just born; they’re made — in classrooms.A new study by Babson College found “overwhelming evidence” that even just a few elective courses in entrepreneurship can inspire students to later launch their own businesses.Researchers at the Wellesley, Mass., school said the findings should put another dent in the old argument that entrepreneurship cannot be taught. “We now have excellent empirical evidence that it makes a difference,” they wrote. “We think that entrepreneurship should be taught not only for the production and training of entrepreneurs but also to help students decide if they have the right stuff to be entrepreneurs before they embark on careers for which they may be ill-suited.”If students want to really light a fire under their unformed dreams to someday launch a startup, three classes are better than two, the researchers added. The extra lesson time apparently further persuades students to become their own bosses. But taking just one class doesn’t do the trick, researchers determined. Apparently, some take a single course out of curiosity and decide that running a business isn’t for them.The study also found that taking classes had a greater impact than having parents who were entrepreneurs, and that the number of students who desired to begin a company and later actually began one did not differ between undergraduates and graduate students.A handful of Babson professors analyzed the career paths of 3,755 Babson graduates from 1985 to 2009. Their conclusion: “We believe that entrepreneurship should be taught to every business student because it is the very origin of all businesses — after all, there would be no business schools if there had never been any entrepreneurs!”Note that the findings might not be agenda-free. Babson is a business school, and a good one: Its MBA program was ranked first in entrepreneurship by U.S. News & World Report in 2010, and its undergraduate program was ranked 17th by Bloomberg Businessweek.But the point is well-taken: Learning about entrepreneurship can be a smart first step on the road to actually becoming an entrepreneur.

via Study: Entrepreneurs First Get Down to Business in the Classroom – DailyFinance.

Gauge of economic activity falls in April – Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON – A gauge of U.S. economic activity fell in April as the Japanese earthquake hurt auto production.The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago says its index was minus 0.45 in April in contrast to a positive reading of 0.32 in March. It was the weakest reading since August.A reading below zero indicates below-trend growth in the national economy. Economists say normal growth is around a 3 percent pace.Factories produced less in April, a main reason for the decline. A parts shortage stemming from the March 11 Japanese earthquake forced automakers to cut back output.Economists say the supply disruptions will most likely be temporary. They also say U.S. companies are likely to be benefit once the Japanese rebuilding effort is under way. Economists say U.S. manufacturers are likely to fill orders related to those efforts.

via Gauge of economic activity falls in April – Yahoo! News.

15 Toughest Interview Questions and Answers!- Monster+HotJobs

For many people, job interviews are the most stressful part of the job-search process. And it’s true that an interview is often a make-or-break moment: If you flub the interview in a big way, you probably won’t make the cut–no matter how good your resum is, or how excellent your qualifications are.You can combat nerves and increase your chances of success by practicing your answers to difficult interview questions. Here are some of the toughest, with suggested answers:1. Why do you want to work in this industry?Bad answer:”I love to shop. Even as a kid, I spent hours flipping through catalogs.”Tip:Don’t just say you like it. Anyone can do that. Focus instead on your history with that particular industry, and if you can, tell a success story.Good answer:”I’ve always loved shopping, but my interest in retail marketing really started when I worked at a neighborhood boutique. I knew that our clothes were amazing, but that we weren’t marketing them properly. So I worked with management to come up with a marketing strategy that increased our sales by 25 percent in a year. It was great to be able to contribute positively to an industry I feel so passionate about, and to help promote a product I really believed in.”2. Tell us about yourself.Bad answer:”I graduated four years ago from the University of Michigan, with a bachelor’s in biology–but I decided that wasn’t the right path for me. So I switched gears and got my first job, working in sales for a startup. Then I went on to work in marketing for a law firm. After that, I took a few months off to travel. Finally, I came back and worked in marketing again. And now, here I am, looking for a more challenging marketing role.”Tip:Instead of giving a chronological work history, focus on your strengths and how they pertain to the role. If possible, illustrate with examples.Good answer:”I’m really energetic, and I’m a great communicator. Working in sales for two years helped me build confidence and taught me the importance of customer loyalty. I’ve also got a track record of success. In my last role, I launched a company newsletter, which helped us build on our existing relationships and create new ones. Because of this, we ended up seeing a revenue increase of 10 percent over two years. I’m also very interested in how companies can use web tools to better market themselves, and would be committed to building on your existing platform.”

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via 15 Toughest Interview Questions and Answers!- Monster+HotJobs.

How To Get The Salary You Deserve

Despite the condition of the economy workers and those accepting offers for employment should not shy away from requesting a fair and reasonable salary. It is relatively simple to conduct research on the salaries of your companies employees so you can determine what the ask range is.  Online services such as GlassDoor.com allow you to view the salary ranges of employees working for your prospective employer as well as numbers for comparable professionals in your field.

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Questions You Should Ask During An Interview

When asking for advice about how to go into a job interview one of the first tidbits of knowledge a person will usually share with you is to prepare for the questions. Researching the company and the position are great ways to get ready for an interview but there is certain information that one can only find out straight from the companies mouth.  By participating in the interview process through asking questions you will appear eager about the position and make the interviewers job a lot easier.

America’s Economy and What’s Being Done

For once there’s some good news about the economy. Long Island has seen an addition of 10,900 jobs to its private-sector in the month of October alone. Compared to the rest of the nation the east coast state has seen seven months of continuous job growth despite the woes of the recession. The state’s economy overall has seen growth that exceeded the prediction of government officials.  Public sector jobs also increased but not at the same rate due to cuts in government and education spending.

Lawmakers in various states such as Governor Chris Christie from New Jersey are faced with budget deficits and the task of spurring economic growth at the local level. In Washington, DC Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has proposed a program that stresses the purchasing of $600 billion worth of long term U.S. government bonds that could produce somewhere between 700,000 and 1,000,000 jobs. This choice of direction does not come with out critics who highlight the fact that such an action would bring about uncertain levels of inflation.

Along with the unemployed there are currently a vast amount of people who suffer a lot of stress due to fear of losing their job in this economy. Even though there are many who converse about how we’re going to get out of this slump it takes real action from each and every one of us to truly bring this country back to a state of growth and success. America has gone through trials and tribulations and risen a greater nation than before. In my next post I’ll highlight some success stories from histories greatest economic depression.

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Internet Resources For Job Searchers