Workforce Bulletin - December 6, 2013
This edition of Workforce Bulletin contains articles including:
Budget Deal Not Yet Done, But House Majority Leaders Indicate They Are Prepared to Consider Measure Next Week
House Majority leaders remain prepared to pass a budget conference compromise next week and are preparing for a December 10th deadline for producing a compromise agreement that could set Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 and 2015 spending levels.
House Minority Seeks to Link Unemployment Benefits Extension to Budget Talks
On Thursday December 5th, the House Minority urged that the emerging bipartisan budget agreement include an extension of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act (EUC08) program. This places the House Minority at odds with the House Majority who believes EUC08 should lapse as scheduled at the end of 2013.
Unemployment Rate Declined to 7.0 Percent as Nonfarm Jobs Increased by 203,000 in November
Nonfarm jobs rose by 203,000 in November to bring the total level of nonfarm employment to 136,765,000 nationally. Monthly job gains averaged 195,000 per month over the prior 12 months. Since November 2012, nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 2,293,000 jobs, representing a 12-month growth rate of 1.7 percent. Private sector businesses added 196,000 jobs whereas the public sector increased by 7,000 jobs in November.
House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections holds Hearing on Revised OFCCP Regulations
On Wednesday, December 4th, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing on the recently published final regulations for federal contractors and subcontractors issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
NASWA Workgroup Provides Comments to OMB on RJM Renewal Request
On Wednesday, December 4th, NASWA submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concerning the agency’s information collection request (ICR) on the renewal for the U.S. Department of Labor’s (USDOL) Resource Justification Model (RJM) that states submit each year as a reporting requirement and is used by USDOL to determine the amount of administrative funding state unemployment insurance programs receive for each fiscal year.
Reemployment Connections Institute Underway
Earlier this week, the Reemployment Connections Virtual Institute kicked off, with six new states joining the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA) Reemployment Connections initiative, which builds on the foundational work of the original Unemployment Insurance (UI)/ Workforce Connectivity Pilot Project started in 2011 by ITSC and the original Connectivity Pilot Project states (NY, MS, OR, ID and MN).
GAO Report finds Local Areas had Difficulty in Helping Employers Fill Certain Jobs
On Monday, December 2nd, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled Workforce Investment Act: Local Areas Face Challenges Helping Employers Fill Some Types of Skilled Jobs. The report found employers in the majority of local areas had difficulty filling certain jobs, with 80 percent of local areas reporting employers had difficulty filling “middle-skilled” jobs, which the report defines as positions that require more than a high-school diploma but less than a four year college degree.
HR-XML to Host Webinar for State Workforce Agencies on Standards in Agency IT Systems
HR-XML will be hosting a webinar for state workforce agencies on Tuesday, December 10th at 11 AM (EST) providing an overview of the HR-XML initiative to promote open-source technology standards in the employment and HR technology sector.
Save the Date: 2014 National UI Interstate Benefits (IB) Training April 29-30, 2014!
The 2014 Interstate Benefits Training Conference will take place in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 29-30, 2014. Do not miss this training opportunity for state interstate and federal program coordinators, along with UI ICON programmers, to share ideas and best practices that can be applied to improve services in your state.
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