The Indiana General Assembly finally adjourned its 2010 legislative session early Saturday with deals including a one-year
delay on unemployment insurance tax increases and aid for schools reeling from state budget cuts.
The Labor Department figures suggest the job market is slowly healing but that significant hiring has yet to occur.
Out of six professionals IBJ profiled a year ago, three have found jobs, although all have accepted lower pay than
they were getting before. One could not be reached, but she still lists herself as looking for work on LinkedIn.com. Two tried
to start their own businesses, with one giving up and one, Bruce Flanagan, still trying.
New claims for unemployment benefits jumped unexpectedly last week, mostly because state agencies processed a backlog of
claims caused by snowstorms the previous week.
Indianapolis-based Vortek Surgical LLC will relocate to Brownsburg, expanding its headquarters, manufacturing and distribution
operations and creating more than 60 jobs in the next three years.
The economy is as good or better in Hendricks County than anywhere else in the Indianapolis area.
Whether to delay increases in taxes that employers pay to Indiana’s unemployment insurance fund is becoming a
contentious issue in the General Assembly.
Kmart’s announcement that it will close its store in Connersville in May will put 59 employees out of work. Fayette County,
where the city is located, already is strapped by steep job losses.
Multimedia products maker World Media Group Inc. will invest more than $2 million to expand its manufacturing operations on
the east side of Indianapolis, increasing its workforce by 20 percent.
January’s report offers hope that employers may start adding jobs soon. Excluding the beleaguered construction industry, the private sector as a whole added 63,000 positions.
The president’s budget offers tax cuts for businesses, including a $5,000 tax credit for hiring new workers this year, help
for the unemployed and $25 billion more for cash-strapped state governments. Job creation will take precedence over stemming
a surging deficit.
A startup that makes mobile laboratory and manufacturing facilities will locate its headquarters, design and manufacturing
operations in Brownsburg, creating at least 50 jobs by 2013.
For the year, retail sales fell 6.2 percent, the biggest decline on government records that go back to 1992.
Illinois-based medical waste disposal firm Stericycle Inc. will expand its Indianapolis operations, creating as many as 109
jobs by 2011, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. announced Wednesday.
Employing relatives or pals can be a godsend or a nightmare for small firms. And anecdotal evidence suggests it could be even
rougher on women business owners than it is on men.
The Labor Department said today that new claims for unemployment insurance fell by 22,000, to a seasonally adjusted 432,000,
the lowest since July 2008.
The rise was fueled by a long-term outlook on jobs that reached its highest level in two years, but the reading of 52.9 is
still far short of the 90 that would signify a solid economy.
Delphi Corp. brought some good news to the beleaguered city of Kokomo on Friday, announcing plans open a production facility
there, creating about 190 jobs by 2014.
The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of new jobless claims rose to 480,000 last week, up 7,000 from the previous
week.
Executives from BC Forward, Indianapolis’ largest computer consulting firm, said Tuesday the company will get even bigger,
with the addition of 200 jobs by 2012.
