Recession Briefing: Snow Slams Job Market

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

This month’s blizzards are battering jobs. Economists estimate that between 90,000 and 150,000 jobs could be lost in February, as the snow kept people home from work and stalled hiring during the month. (CNN/Money)

The Obama administration projected Thursday that the unemployment rate would fall this year by only a little, if at all, and would remain well over 6 percent until 2015. (New York Times)

About a quarter of the 8.4 million jobs eliminated since the recession began won’t be coming back and will ultimately need to be replaced by other types of work in growing industries, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey. (Wall Street Journal)…

How to Go It Alone

The Wall Street Journal is calling this the “age of going solo.” The reasons are obvious: more people are working independently, because they gave up on the corporate world or were chucked out. A startling 20-plus percent of US workers are freelancers, consultants, contractors or (my personal favorite) “micropreneurs.”

Are you one of them? Could you be? The Journal’s story by Richard Greenwald offers some powerful tips on how to succeed. Read the original article for more, like what to beware of in a professional network.

Think long term

You might see this as a temporary, in-between jobs situation. But it might not be. And if you think of it that way, you won’t be very good at it. And with competition for gigs fierce, your halfhearted approach won’t make you a pile of money.

Learn and teach

You need cutting-edge skills, both to justify your rates and improve your chances of getting a full-time gig, should you want one.

Recession Briefing: Relationship Rockiness

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Money doesn’t buy love and it doesn’t buy happiness, as we should all know by now. But money woes can certainly cause problems for couples, especially during the economic downturn. The bottom line: It’s complicated. (New York Times/City Room)

The Great Recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably just beginning. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years to come. (The Atlantic)

Finding a job got much tougher last year, as the number of available openings fell by nearly one quarter. At the same time, the unemployed population soared by more than one-third, leaving more laid-off workers competing for fewer jobs. (Associated Press)…

Recession Briefing: Crazy for Coupons

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Coupon use has risen every quarter since the end of 2008, making 2009 the first year of rising coupon use since 1992. Last year, 3.5 billion coupons were redeemed, according to Inmar, a coupon processor that handles about half of the market and publishes figures extrapolated from its own volume. (New York Times)

When you’ve flooded the economy with trillions of dollars, mopping up is no easy task. That’s the reality the Federal Reserve is confronting as it starts to explain how it will undo the aggressive growth-supporting steps that were put in place when the economy was in its deep dive — and begins to be clearer about when that may happen. (Washington Post)

When 22 recently unemployed workers agreed to be filmed baring their souls about what it was like to lose his job, they didn’t expect millions to see their confessions in the George Clooney film Up in the Air. A year later, many of these recession victims have new jobs. (Reuters)…

Want to Work at a Startup? Does Your Startup Need Workers?

Talk about upside potential.

In the recession, lots of entrepreneurs have had to bootstrap their startups. They’re dying for talent, but can’t pay salaries. Meawhile, there are lots of smart people willing to work for, um, “alternative” compensation (i.e., equity, low pay, or nothing), because they want to build their resume, take a shot at a startup or just do something with their unemployed selves.

Enter JobNob.

Our smart friends at JobNob bring the two sides together. They have held eight successful mixers in Silicon Valley for job-seekers to connect with startups, and they’re brining the show to New York on Feb. 9…

2009 Was a Big Year for Start-Ups

Isn’t it nice to be validated? For more than a year, we’ve been talking about all the new businesses that would be started as a result of the recession. We knew there were people who felt liberated by being laid off or by quitting miserable jobs, and others who were launching start-ups because they didn’t see any job openings out there.

According to a new survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 8.6 percent of unemployed managers and executives started started businesses last year, a four-year high.

“The start-up rate might have been even higher if banks had loosened their lending standards,” pointed out John Challenger, the company’s CEO…

Screwed: Hundreds in Phoenix

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s total: 819

Phoenix is letting go hundreds of police officers and firefighters…Time Warner Cable is canning 350 people in Colorado…more than 150 police officers in Tulsa will lose their jobs…cable maker Commscope is cutting 150 jobs in Omaha…

Recession Briefing: Americans Have Money for Gifts, But Not Food

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Nearly one in five Americans said they lacked the money to buy the food they needed at some point in the last year, according to a survey co-sponsored by the Gallup organization and released Tuesday by an anti-hunger group. (New York Times)

Consumers spent an average of $811 on holiday gifts, significantly more than the $699 they initially planned to spend, according to a survey. About 4 in 5 consumers bought gifts, and many shoppers bought for themselves, the poll found. (Los Angeles Times)

“How do I know when the next recession will occur? All I have to do is ask my wife,” writes Gene Marks. “That’s because women know this answer. Not men.” (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

Screwed: 13,000 at Verizon

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s total: 17,011

Verizon will cut 13,000 landline jobs because everyone now uses cellphones…Oracle will lay off less than 2,000 after its merger with Sun…The Home Depot Inc. plans to lay off 1,000 employees as well as close three pilot projects… Sitel, a Memphis, TN call-center, is cutting 426 positions, 264 of which were temporary…

Screwed: A Possible 19,000 in New York City

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s total: up to 19,304

Mayor Bloomberg says New York City may have to lay off a whopping 19,000 workers if the governor cuts $1.3 billion in aid as he plans…ArcelorMittal will can 171 steelworkers at its tin mill in West Virginia…ITT Communication Systems is eliminating 60 jobs in Fort Wayne, Ind….book wholesaler and distributor Ingram Content Group gave 57 Tennessee employees the boot…Tower Tech in Abilene, Texas is cutting 15 jobs…