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Continental AG, a leading global automotive supplier, will transfer its South Carolina manufacturing operations to its Newport News, Virginia, facility, creating 318 new jobs. The consolidation will combine the diesel and gasoline fuel injector manufacturing operations into a single location. The company will invest $194 million to relocate diesel fuel injector manufacturing as well as expand the existing gasoline fuel injector business line.

“This consolidation project is tremendous news for Virginia,” said Governor Tim Kaine. “Valuable jobs could have been transferred out of state and not only did we retain more than 500 positions, we will gain an additional 318 employment opportunities. The infrastructure in place in Newport News fit Continental’s needs and the trained workforce in the region put the Commonwealth in the lead.”

Continental AG is the fourth largest automotive supplier worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving safety and protection of the global climate. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. Today, the corporation employs approximately 150,000 people at nearly 200 locations in 36 countries.

“Continental appreciates the assistance and cooperation of the City of Newport News and the Governor’s office to help make our expansion of the Newport News facility a reality during tough economic times,” said Kregg Wiggins, Senior Vice President Powertain, Continental Automotive Group - NAFTA region. “As a direct result in gaining these manufacturing efficiencies, we look forward to maintaining our position as a strong global supplier, producing high quality, cost effective products for our customers.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the City of Newport News to secure the project for Virginia. Governor Kaine approved $3 million from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Newport News with the project. Governor Kaine also approved two performance-based grants of $1.5 million each, one for the consolidation and one for the existing business line expansion, from the Virginia Investment Partnership (VIP) program. VIP is an incentive available to existing Virginia companies. The company is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide training assistance through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

“We are delighted that a company as valued as Continental AG will continue its success and expand its presence in Newport News,” said Mayor Joe S. Frank. “Our City’s ability to retain over 500 jobs and attract over 300 new jobs along with nearly $200 million in new capital investment in today’s challenged economy is a testament to our community’s resilient business climate and dedicated workforce. In addition to the Commonwealth and City staff, I want to commend the Continental employees and management for working together to ensure the company remains a prized member of our business community. I also want to acknowledge the outstanding work of City Council and the City’s Economic Development Authority and thank them for their commitment to the success of this effort. Newport News continues to be a center for advanced manufacturing in the nation. Canon, AREVA, Northrop Grumman and now Continental AG are advanced manufacturers choosing Newport News as a business location for new construction, reinvestment in existing facilities and new job creation. As the national economy struggles, I am proud to say that our City is both retaining critical businesses and attracting new business to Hampton Roads.”

Those with minimum wage jobs in Florida received a raise this week. As of January 1^st the state’s lowest legal pay went from $6.79 to $7.21 an hour. This 6.2 percent increase won’t be the last that workers in the Sunshine State get this year. In July the federal minimum wage will increase to $7.25, causing workers to earn a small amount more for every hour they are on the clock. Altogether, this equals an extra $17 a week during the course of a 40 hour work week.

Although this may sound great for the workers, many are concerned about what problems this will cause for those who provide jobs throughout Florida. The increase in the minimum wage will cause employers a lot of money, meaning that places of businesses that are already struggling may have to lay off more workers. This will certainly cause the unemployment rate to rise.

Another problem that often accompanies an increase in the minimum wage at any level is inflation. Since employers are having to pay out more to their workers, they often begin to charge more for their services. This enables them to keep their profit margins up and still pay the increase in wages to their workers. The problem is that their workers now have to pay more for everything since other businesses are having the same problem.

According to the Associated Press, approximately 900,000 people with jobs in Florida will be effected by the increase. Experts from the University of California at Irvine have said that, with 10 percent of the state’s workforce being effected, there will most likely be a backlash that causes a 8.5 percent decrease in employment for young minorities and those who dropped out of high school.

Despite all of these problems, an amendment was added to the state’s Constitution by voters back in 2004 which made it where Florida’s Agency for Workforce Innovation calculates the new minimum wage each year. Since the passing of this partial legislation, the lowest hourly wage a worker can make has increased by $2.06 an hour. Statistically, this costs a business with 20 workers at this pay level more that $80,000 each year.

There is good news on the horizon for veterans facing a job search.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced its plans to increase the number of disabled veterans who obtain employment within the VA. Currently, 30 percent of VA employees are veterans, while 8 percent of employees are service-connected disabled veterans. This is the second-highest number of veterans employed in cabinet departments aside from the Department of Defense.

The VA’s Veterans employment Coordination Service plans to contact all severely injured veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to determine interest and qualifications for employment with the VA. There are currently 2,300 injured veterans from those two wars, and 600 have shown interest in working for the VA.

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Connecticut’s unemployment rate rose to 6.6 percent during the month of November, according to the state Department of Labor. Although this is slightly below the national average of 6.7 percent, it is still the highest the state has experienced in the last 15 years.

Altogether, the most recent statistics show that employers did away with 5,100 jobs in Connecticut in November. This brought the total number of jobs in the state from October’s 1,698,500 to 1,693,400. In the last 12 months, approximately 10,500 jobs are been lost.

“The national recession has really caught up to us and pulled us down,” said labor economist John Tirinzonie.

The last time unemployment reached 6.6 percent in the state was back in June of 1993, which happened to be around the end of a recession that had been going on since 1989. During this time, over 150,000 Connecticut jobs were lost.

Last months job loss statistics did not catch experts unaware, according to Don Klepper-Smith of DataCore Partners LLC and chairman of the Governor’s Economic Advisory Panel.

“The numbers are disconcerting, but not unexpected. We were expecting a minimum of 3,000 job losses,” said Klepper Smith to the Hartford Courant.

“When people start losing their jobs, they not only their ability to pay their bills, but they lose their ability to pay their taxes, which becomes a concern to states and municipalities,” he went on to say. “We’ve got a domestic recession that’s taking on greater definition and stands to get worse before it gets better.”

According to state Labor Department statistics, employers in seven of the ten largest industries in Connecticut cut jobs in November. The greatest of these losses happened in trade, transportation and utilities, where 2,500 jobs were lost.

Another big losses was the manufacturing sector, which cut 900 jobs in Connecticut during November. Since the November of 2007, employers in this area of employment have done away with 3,400 positions.

The only industry that saw the creation of new jobs was educational and health services. Employers in this sector created 600 positions, which means they were unable to make up for the 1,100 jobs lost in the same industry during October.

According to the RI Department of Labor and Training, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged over the month, remaining at 9.3 percent in November — a high rate that doesn’t bode well for the Rhode Island job market.

From October to November of this year, the U.S. unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a percent to reach 6.7 percent, its highest rate since October 1993.

The number of Rhode Island jobs in November 2008 declined by 4,000 from the revised October employment figure of 475,800, reducing the job count to 471,800. November marks the largest over-the-month employment drop since April 1991  (-4,300) and the eleventh straight month of job losses for both Rhode Island and the United States.

In November, the number of unemployed Rhode Island residents—those residents who classify themselves as available for and actively seeking employment—increased by 200 over the month to reach 53,100. From November 2007 to November 2008, the number of unemployed RI residents increased 23,100.

On a related note, the number of employed RI residents totaled 517,100 in November 2008, reflecting a decrease of 400 from the previous month. Over the year, the number of employed RI residents fell 29,500 between November 2007 and November 2008.

Employment in Retail Trade fell by 1,400 over the month as several retail industries fell short of normal holiday hiring in November.

Also in November, employment in Manufacturing decreased by 500, followed by Construction (-400), Professional & Business Services (-400), Accommodation & Food Services (-400), Wholesale Trade (-300), Health Care & Social Assistance (-300), Financial Activities (-200), Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (-200) and Other Services (-100).

Educational Services and Transportation & Utilities each added 100 jobs in November, while employment in Natural Resources & Mining, Information and Government remained unchanged.

From November 2007 to November 2008, RI jobs declined 18,100 (-3.7%), the largest year-over-year loss since December 1990 (-30,200). Retail Trade (-3,600) reported the largest annual employment decline, followed by Manufacturing (-3,200), Professional & Business Services (-2,800), Government (-2,300), Construction (-1,600), Financial Activities (-1,400), Other Services (-1,400), Accommodation & Food Services (-800), Wholesale Trade   (-600), Transportation & Utilities (-500), Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (-500) and Natural Resources & Mining (-100).

Health Care & Social Assistance and Educational Services reported an increase of 500 and 200 jobs, respectively, from November 2007 to November 2008, while employment in the Information sector remained even.

In November 2008, production workers in the Manufacturing sector earned $14.00 per hour. The average hourly production wage was up two cents from October and up one cent from a year ago November. Manufacturing employees worked an average of 38.4 hours per week in November, unchanged over the month and down an hour and one-tenth since November 2007.

A recent survey of applicant tracking system users showed that many aren’t using the systems to their full potential.

The survey, completed by participants at the 2008 Taleo World User’s Conference, asked respondents to explore their practices regarding the candidate experience, tracking and reporting on 120-day turnover, according to an article by Talent Management.

The results found that 72 percent of respondents don’t know the cost of on-boarding for their highest-turnover position and 86 percent of respondents aren’t asking candidates about their online employment application experience.

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Finding a job in a struggling economy can be particularly difficult for recent graduates. With many experienced workers willing to do positions further down the ladder to avoid unemployment, competition for an already limited number of jobs is even higher. Because of this, internships are more important than ever.

According to the Georgia Department of Labor, 74,480 laid-off workers filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits in November, an increase of 54.7 percent from November of 2007. The fallout from Atlanta job losses showed a 55.8% increase from one year ago.

During the first 11 months of this year, 613,863 initial claims for unemployment insurance have been filed, an increase of 44.1 percent over the 425,942 initial claims filed during the same period last year. The metropolitan areas with the highest percentage of increase in claims are Dalton, Rome, and Warner Robins. The areas with the smallest increase in claims are Augusta, Albany, and Valdosta.

“For the past four months, initial claims in Georgia have risen significantly over the previous year,” said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. “But, temporary hiring during the holiday season should off-set some of the unemployment insurance claims being filed by workers laid off from full-time jobs.”

So far this year, almost two-thirds of all initial claims have been filed by laid-off workers in manufacturing, construction, and trade, along with administrative and support services, including temporary employment agencies.

Despite the current state of the economy, the Rhode Island job outlook has potential for graduates of the Community College of Rhode Island.

Every year the college conducts a survey of its past graduates within six to nine months after graduation, according to an article by The Providence Journal. The most recent results proved that more than 40 percent of students had found jobs, but the current trend of the economy could weigh on the next graduating class.“It’s going to be a tough, tough year in fields outside of health care,” President Ray Di Pasquale said in the article.

Of the 1,320 2007 graduates, about 80 percent responded to the survey. Of those surveyed, 47 percent had found full-time jobs, down from 53 percent in 2006. About 29.4 percent are pursuing education full-time, while 6.5 percent were pursuing education part-time. Only 5.4 percent responded that they were unemployed and looking for work, up from 3.2 percent in 2006.

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Many Illinois manufacturing jobs will soon be lost.

ArcelorMittal recently announced its plan to close, cutting about 285 jobs in the process. According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, the Luxembourg-based company says the plant duplicates work done at other plants.

The plant slated to close is located in Hennepin, Ill., about 50 miles northwest of Bloomington. It is unknown when exactly the plant will close, and the company is working on providing severance pay to the workers who will lose their jobs.

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