Hewlett Packard, Temp Workers, And Gas Prices

Hewlett Packard is feeling the hurt as well at its Vancouver campus, with its profits slipping 2% to $2.1 billion in its fourth quarter fiscal. With Hewlett Packard's personal printing campus in downtown Vancouver, they have seen a decline in printer orders which could be bad news. With Imaging and Printing Group's revenue falling 1% to $7.5 billion and Printer unit shipments down 8%, this could mean job cuts at the Vancouver campus.

The temporary help industry is also feeling the hurt when they lost around 1,600 jobs in October and accounted for more than half of the 2,800 jobs lost in the professional and business sector. A sector that rarely has that much downturn in one months time. Temp jobs are usually the first to go in these instances due to companies tightening their budgets in critical times.

Even if gas prices are falling the amount of people expected to travel this Thanksgiving will be at a small decline for the first time since 2002. There is an expected decline of people traveling more than 50 miles from there home, roughly about 1.4% or 600,000 travelers less than last year at Thanksgiving. The slight decrease in people traveling this year could be due to the tough economy which is being felt by everyone.

So Portland tell us what you think about the current economic situation with Hewlett Packard and the temporary job market. Also, Portland if you are going anywhere for Turkey Day let us know in the comments below.

So for those of us at Employment Guide, Healthcareerweb, and Wiser Worker, we wish you and your family a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Portland Employment Guide November 24th - December 1st

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Oregon's Unemployment Rate Spikes

Oregon's unemployment rate jumped up to 7.3% in October due to the lack of consumer spending. That is 0.9% more than the national average which is 6.5%. Consumers are closing their wallets instead of spending which has led to a loss of 14,100 jobs since September. That is the worst seasonally adjusted monthly decline since February of 1981.

According to this article in the Portland Tribune, there are about 134,096 Oregonians without work and nearly every sector of the states economy has shed jobs last month. Some of these losses were more unexpected than others. With the downturn in employment causing such a scare for the future, it has increased number of first time claims for unemployment insurance. According to John Young, a Portland-area unemployment insurance claim manager,

Unemployment insurance is up 27 percent from a year ago and about 60,000 Oregonians are receiving unemployment benefits, with nearly 1,200 exhausting their 26-week benefits every week.

With that said here are some FAQs about extended benefits (EB) and Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) from Oregon.gov.

The Employment Guide strives to do its part everyday, as does Wiser Worker and Healthcareerweb. Times are hard these days, so Portland, tell us how you plan on tackling this crisis in the comments section below.

Portland Employment Guide November 17th - November 24th

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Intel, Starbucks, and the Price of Oil

As stocks rise and fall in these tough economic times, one such stock that hits close to home has got to be Intel. Though its headquarters may be in Santa Clara, California, one of the companies main facilities is located in Hillsboro, Oregon. Intel is the largest employer in the state of Oregon with over 16,000 employees. Here is an article about the situation that Intel faces in today's Oregonian. According to the article, Intel's 4th quarter revenue has been speculated to be 4% behind the 3rd quarter revenue meaning that the selling of laptops and desktops may not be as great. However, there is no mention of how it might effect jobs going forward.

Starbucks is going through the same hard times that Intel is with steep drop in profits during the 4th quarter. The Seattle based company has an optimistic outlook for 2009, but many believe they are still at the mercy of the macroeconomy. Take a look at the article in today's Oregonian that expands on the problem that Starbucks faces going forward. Consumers are concerned about the impending recession that it has hurt our economy not just in coffee but across the board. However, 72% of the people polled say they believe that Obama can turn around our stalling economy.

On a brighter note, oil has dropped for the 17th week and the national average for gasoline is $2.22. With gas prices falling, it has helped many people save a little extra money especially during the holidays. We are the largest consumer of energy in the world and major factor in oil prices. U.S. car sales fell to a 25 year low in October and unemployment rate was at a 14 year high at 6.5%. Governor Ted Kulongoski has purpose a 2 cents per gallon tax increase and higher vehicle fees to help the economy. This plan would basically create more construction jobs and improve transportation in matters such as maintenance and preservation.

So Portland tell us what you think about our situation here locally or nationally in the comment section below.

Portland Employment Guide November 10th - November 17th

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More Retirees Are Re-Entering The Job Market

It appears that more and more retirees are trying to re-enter the job market with this economic downturn that we are experiencing. However, it is easier today that it used to be for those who are in or near retirement. The Oregonian and Business week have compiled a list of mature worker job boards. It just so happens that Wiser Worker is listed there as apart of the ever expanding list of job boards. Here is the description:

-- WiserWorker.com enables baby boomers and older workers to search for job listings by keyword or location and provides career articles and resources plus listings of local job fairs across the country.

With longer lifespans and the desire to remain productive in today's society the older workforce definitely need to make ends meet when social security is not enough. If this trend of mature workers entering the workforce continues they will account for 6.1% of the labor force by 2016. That will be almost twice what they accounted for in 2006, which was 3.6%. To read more interesting facts about the older workforce check out this article in the Oregonian.

Tell us what you think Portland. How is the job hunt for those re-entering the labor force? Let us know in the comments below.

Portland Employment Guide November 3rd - November 10th

Click on the image below to view a copy of this week's edition of The Employment Guide in Portland.