Officials have noted that test scores are increasing in every county, grade and subject area across the state. Also, white students, black students, high income and low income students of all ages are testing higher than they did five years ago.
“Now is more important than ever, even in these difficult times, to continue to protect our investments in public education to ensure that every child receives a world class education and a better future," Gov. Martin O'Malley said. "The people of Maryland are our greatest asset and our continued economic strength depends upon our ability to invest in them, and prepare our children today for the jobs of tomorrow.”
As of late, the Maryland State Department of Education has been working with state school systems to help bring educational excellence to every part of the state. The DOE has worked with the College Board to bring numerous Advanced Placement courses to schools in rural and urban communities that had few offerings in the past.
Those efforts have resulted in more students from underrepresented groups getting involved. As a whole, the State of Maryland ranks first in the country in terms of the percentage of students who take AP tests and score at the college mastery level.
“This new research from Newsweek shows that we are making a difference," Nancy S. Grasmick, state superintendent of schools, said. "Educators are inspiring our students to do more, and our students are responding. Time and time again we see that our students will rise to meet the high expectations that are set forth for them.”
On top of all the accolades, Maryland's education industry is one of the few that is continuing to add jobs. While other industries are consistently shedding jobs because of the current economic recession, teachers continue to be hired.
The state's education and health services industry employed 390,000 workers during May, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 389,400 workers during April and a 2.3 percent increase from last year.
One well-known food distribution company is helping to create new jobs in Atlanta. General Mills recently announced its plan to construct a $42 million distribution facility, a move that will create 112 jobs in Walton County. It took the company 18 months to select a site for the new project. General Mills considered more than 175 miles of space throughout 24 counties.
General Mills is the world's sixth-largest food company and makes such products as Cheerios, Betty Crocker and Haagen-Dazs. The company, with the assistance of Doughtie, Nichols and Schnur, chose the Rockefeller Group for the development asignment.
"It is my understanding that this new built-to-suit facility will be one of the largest distribution centers ever built in the United States that meets the LEED certification standards for a green building," Doughtie said. "It is certainly the largest LEED certified distribution building ever built in the Atlanta market and in the Southeast."
During April, the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta area's unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent. The area had a total non-farm employment of 2,322,100 workers during April, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 2,323,800 workers during March and a 5.1 percent decrease from last year.
The construction industry employed 107,100 workers during April, 108,800 workers during March and a 17.9 percent decrease from last year.
It might just be a bridge to some people, but to others it means the chance to create several PA construction jobs. Gov. Edward G. Rendell recently announced that $10 million is being invested to rehabilitate and preserve the Route 51 Beaver-Rochester Bridge in Beaver County. This is the first project in the region that is being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"We are here today because the federal Recovery Act is helping us restore our aging infrastructure and - just as importantly - putting Pennsylvanians to work," Rendell said in a press release. "This project simply would not have happened if stimulus funds were not available. As a bonus, 30 to 40 people will be working because of this bridge project.
"Right now, Beaver County needs this economic stimulus to get people to work and to rebuild its infrastructure in order to attract new residents and businesses," he continued. "Stories like this one are playing out across the state as more than $1 billion in federal transportation stimulus funds is supplementing the $1.8 billion in work Pennsylvania had already planned for this year."
Pennsylvania companies led by Mascaro Construction of Pittsburgh are rebuilding the bridge, including subcontractors Avalotis of Verona, Allegheny County; Strongstown B & K of Strongstown, Indiana County; and Callahan Paving Products of Horsham, Montgomery County.
The bridge, which spans the Beaver River between Beaver and Rochester, carries between 10,000 and 15,000 vehicles per day. The repair project includes preservation activities, full painting, expansion dam and rocker bearing replacements and steel and concrete repairs.
The Route 51 Beaver-Rochester Bridge is one of seven projects in the state's Department of Transportation three-county District 11 region being funded by ARRA. Statewide, Pennsylvania is receiving more than $1 billion for highway and bridge projects from the ARRA.
Pennsylvania will invest close to $3 billion for highway and bridge work, the most ever produced in a single year for that type of work in the state. Of that money, $643 million is being invested in southwestern Pennsylvania.
The State of Ohio will be losing more than 2,000 jobs in the near future.
According to an article by The Columbus Dispatch, seven companies that do business within the state have filed layoff notices. The companies will eliminate a total of 2,358 positions at plants in more than a dozen locations throughout the state by the middle of summer.
Severstal Wheeling Inc. announced the biggest cut, as it plans to layoff more than 916 workers at plants in Steubenville, Mingo Junction, Yorkville and Martins Ferry.
Colfor Manufacturing will layoff about 589 workers at plants in Salem, Minerva and Malvern.
Shiloh Industries is planning to get rid of 111 jobs in Valley City.
ArcelorMittal will see the loss of 69 jobs in Warren.
Not surprisingly, all of these companies serve the auto industry, which has been faced with mounting trouble as of late.
Concerns among the steel industry along the West Virginia border, where most of Severstal's losses will take place, are nothing new. At one point, Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel, the company's predecessor, had 15,000 employees in the county. However, there are currently only 2,000 employees and many of them will soon lose their jobs.
In March, Ohio had an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent, the highest since 1984. There are now 577,500 unemployed workers in Ohio, an increase of almost 200,000 from last year.
On the up side, Wildfire Motors in Steubenville currently employs 75 workers and plans to add 100 more positions. The difference - the company produces electric vehicles.
Despite the strength of the mining industry, Western Australia job growth is expected to slow down slightly before the year is over.
According to the newest report by the Melbourne Institute, annual employment growth nationwide is expected to slow down to 2.2 percent in March of next year, which is down 0.6 percent from this year. The real cause of the diminishing job gains is believed to be the high interest rates that the Reserve Bank has set.
“The outlook for labor remains gloomy,” Dr. Michael Chua, of MI’s applied macroeconomics team, said. “The decline in dwelling commencements and the number of building approvals are indicative of further possible slowdown in the labor market, particularly in the construction sector.”
Although the institute expects there to be fewer new jobs, it predicts that the unemployment rate will remain steady at 4.3 percent through the beginning of 2009.
Throughout the country the number of positions created may slow, but Queensland and Western Australia are expected to remain the strongest states in this regard. Since the economy of both of these areas is driven by mining and resources, the institute believes they will have the strongest economic growth in earliest part of 2009.
“The stronger growth for Queensland and Western Australia is consistent with the relatively stronger consumer sentiment observed in these two states in June,” the report stated. “Although the continued demand for commodities and the associated improvement in the terms of trade tend to support the Australian economy, the prospect of rising inflation in China and India, and continued weakness in the US, poses an additional downside threat for Australian growth.”
Elsewhere in the country, Victoria and New South Wales are expected to have unemployment rates as high as 4.6 percent in March of 2009. NSW job growth will likely drop to 1.8 percent by the same time period, which is down from 3.2 percent this March. The institute has predicted that Victoria’s employment growth will slow down from 2.8 percent to 1.7 percent.
Jobscience, Inc has launched a mobile application for searching, viewing and communicating with a CV database. The application is designed for use with the applicant tracking solution available through Salesforce.com's AppExchange.
The application, which was developed for the iPhone, enables corporate recruiters and staffing agencies to quickly find contacts with the skills they need. A recruiter can then call, e-mail, text message or connect with candidates via social networks.
“Jobscience for iPhone is the first complete applicant tracking system that can run on a mobile device,” Michael Vicchitto, marketing manager of Jobscience, said in a press release. “With an easy-to-use tab interface, recruiters and hiring managers can create, edit, delete and view jobs, applications, candidates, resumes, events, tasks and more.
"Calls are automatically logged and users can take advantage of hundreds of additional add-ons from other AppExchange partners, making it the most scalable and flexible solution for human resources and the staffing industry available today,” Vicchitto continued.
Founded in 1999, Jobscience has a vast portfolio of automated applicant tracking and management solutions that integrate all key hiring and employee management functions through a central Web interface. Automating the process tightens the workflow between HR managers, recruiters and candidates, and ultimately decreases hiring costs.
The company currently offers such functions as standardized job descriptions and job postings, applicant tracking, HR policy, background checks and employee referral.
