My Labor Day Lament could sound like a blues song from Muddy Waters or Etta James.  It’s deep and rich and has some sweetness mixed in with all the sorrow.
The news for workers is bitter-sweet and for the unemployed and the under-employed it is as dreary as a February day in Detroit, where the unemployment rate was 15.2 percent in July
Consider these blue notes:

• -The recession and job cuts have cut a wide swath through America. More than half of workers have a family member who’s lost a job, including one in eight who say someone in their immediate family has been unemployed. That data comes from a new Rutgers University survey of 802 workers.
• For what really qualifies as a double-dip recession, one-third of current job seekers say an immediate family member has also been unemployed in the last three years, the Rutgers poll shows.
• The “99ers” are not such an elite group of Americans unemployed for 99 weeks or longer. That’s 1.3/1.4 CK million people who have spent two solid years of life without a regular paycheck or work friends. The New York Times wrote a poignant piece about 99ers (and I hope to find a link to it and add it soon).
• The U.S. jobless rate is not coming down and companies are hiring sparsely if at all. One third of U.S. metropolitan areas are stuck with jobless rates of 10 percent or higher, and 17 are really bad with rates at or above 15 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. California, once the golden state, now has 12 cities with very high unemployment.  Three cities in Michigan are at or near 15 percent. Even Ann Arbor, the city where I live and one viewed as thriving and adding jobs, has  ahas a jobless rate of 10.0 percent in July.
• When the poverty statistics come out later this month, they are likely to show more Americans at or on the brink of desperation. More than half of workers surveyed for Rutgers rate their finances as “only fair” or poor and it’s 90 percent for unemployed.
• Workers are seeing decelerating wage growth in the last two years, which is hurting family incomes and the economic recovery, according to report from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. The EPI also found that four of the five fastest growing jobs between 2006 and 2009 paid between $8 and $14 an hour – well below the median U.S. worker’s wage of $15.95.
• Almost two-thirds of workers in a Spherion Staffing survey say they feel less secure about their job, and more than one-third feel more negative about their situation since the recession began. Perhaps that negativity comes from a bigger workload: Half say they’ve added responsibilities thanks to a coworker’s layoff, and of course they aren’t paid any more for it.

The blues could go on and on, with job loss leading to health problems or lack of medical care and families split up. The anguish of being jobless for months, especially without close family to help you through, could be plotlines for many books and movies.

And what gives this Labor Day weekend some sweetness for workers? Much of it is far less quantifiable than the blues I was just singing. Many more people seem attuned to the plight of others and willing to help them with a lead on work or a few dollars for a meal. And Friday’s unemployment report does provide some glimmers of hope, as well as many worrisome signs. Factory overtime is rising and the average workweek for “nonsupervisory employees” in companies inched up too.
Hiring will continue slowly in September, with fewer layoffs, the Society for Human Resource Management reports. SHRM also reports more openings for both salaried and hourly jobs than a year ago, when things were really really blue.

Another encouraging sign: The Labor Department’s revised the job losses for June and July. Both numbers are still negative, but the declines shrunk considerably (by 50,000 or more each month).
EPI economist Heidi Shierholz called the BLS report “positive but underperforming” and suggested the government needs to step in with “bold action to create jobs and put America back to work.” I’m no politician, nor a blues singer either but I know that we’ve got a world of hurt out there, with 6.2 million workers who’ve been jobless for half a year or more.
And so we need to encourage and help the jobless – and if we have the means, take action. Many of us could hire people to rake our leaves or renovate a bathroom; tutor our children or staff up our small businesses. We also could press politicans for more help for the worst cities and more aid for long-term jobless. Then perhaps we could turn America’s  Labor Day Lament into a more upbeat song.

More information:
Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. joblesss report and metropolitan area reports  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm   http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm
The Economic Policy Institute’s report called Recession Hits Workers’ Paychecks: Wage growth has collapsed, is available online http://bit.ly/c3WI24

The teen job market this summer was as dreary as a week of rain when you’re vacationing at the beach. The percent of young people, ages 16 to 24, who worked was the lowest level in 62 years and millions just decided it was too tough and didn’t even attempt to search for work, new government statistics show.
Only 48.9 percent of all youth held jobs – the lowest level since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping records in 1948. The jobless rate for young adults was 19.1 in July, almost double the level of 2007.
Despite all that many teens did land jobs, including a handful at our Mity Nice Italian Ice cart in Ann Arbor.  (Seven  part-time workers spent at least a few weeks hawking lemonade and Michigan-made mango and cherry ice from our shiny silver cart.)

Teens who land jobs even when the world economy is wickedly out of whack must be standouts and lucky. They have these characteristics:

-A positive attitude. More than enthusiasm and more than a million-dollar smile, this shows up as joy, energy, a can-do, willingness to tackle anything approach. Be friendly, engaged, cheerful, outgoing, curious and you will improve your chances of being hired – as well as your everyday life. Not everyone has this approach baked into their DNA, but most people can learn to muster it up and put it on like a work uniform or lipstick.

-Persistence. This may show up as determination and dedication to finding a job. It may show up as volunteering every week at a homeless shelter or a Girl Scout troupe. It may show up in finishing high school in five years after family or health troubles. But that dogged determination leads to success.  Albert Einstein once said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

-The 4Cs – communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. These traits were identified by an American Management Association survey as increasingly important to employers. Most 17-year-olds will have developed one or two of these but may not yet have proficiency in three or four.  So be sure to highlight them in your resume and interview.

-Extras in their resume. One of my Mity Nice hires this summer was class president and ran a blood drive at school. Another had three jobs this summer to help pay for her gap year in South America.  Head cheerleader or president of the Honor Society or Key Club, these extracurricular activities demonstrate an ability to juggle multiple tasks – and leadership abilities.

-People who believe in them. We hire people based largely on recommendations and referrals at Mity Nice.  We want to hear that the youth is hard-working and smart from neighbors, teachers, members of their church or synagogue and coaches or mentors. Teens who have believers are going to be more confident and more capable. They’re also going to have contacts who will advise them and help open doors to opportunities.

So what if you’re among the one-fifth of teens who did not land a summer job but desperately wants one this winter or spring?  Now is the time to start developing yourself and your skills and your network of believers.  Now also may be the time to start thinking about a small business you could establish over the next year.  (More on that soon.)

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MORE INFORMATION:

For more on the teen employment picture, read the BLS report here.
For my blog post on creating a first resume (for teens), check out WorkingKind.com archive  and also my Washington Post piece .

What can you learn from summer interns? Read my Glassdoor.com blog post on the traits interns have that are coveted by employers.

Need help with your tone and approach to hiring managers? Read my Washington Post piece on striking the right tone.

I hope to add more resources for young job hunters in coming weeks and months. Feel free to recommend websites, books, articles for teens and work. – VLE

Exceed expectations.
It’s the easiest recipe for success around, yet it’s not as simple in practice as in theory. Instead, you could get so caught up in workplace drama, social media connections or personal dreams that you forget the advice of  Dale Carnegie, the author of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and the creator of a huge training company. Said Carnegie: “Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.”
The persistence especially paired with critical thinking and creativity really can raise you up. My latest article in the Washington Post offers pointers to recent graduates and others who are stuck in a barista job when they know they should be the coffee shop’s marketing director. Turning a basic job into something better starts with your ability to excel.
So how do you do that, especially if you’re 23 and worried about your college loans and career path?  Here’s five approaches to help you “underpromise and over deliver” no matter what job you landed:
UNDERSTAND WHAT’S EXPECTED. Know the basic requirements of the job – and the measures of success that will be applied to you and your boss. Sometimes these are not what they seem:  Pizza sales may be the mainstay of the business, but if your shop owner has decided to diversify into salads and sandwiches, those may be the measures that really count.
Ask for a written job description. Ask coworkers for the real story. Ask questions about expectations – “What are the best ways to spend any extra time when things are slow?”  “What’s a benchmark of sales you’d like me to hit?” and “What else is expected of me?”  Then after you’ve been working for a few weeks, ask them again – and different ones again.
A CAN-DO, CREATIVE ATTITUDE.  Your attitude determines your altitude, as the saying goes. So choose one that will help you fly. Among the best: enthusiasm and energy, confidence, creativity, a willingness to take on new work, a willingness to do the dirty work, persistence, good humor and helpfulness.
Now you may not have these as natural parts of your personality. Then fake it. Put them on like you put on your comfortable sneakers or your apron.
INTENSE FOCUS.  Some young people think because they have an easy job – scooping Italian ice and selling lemonade for example – they can just take it easy, chat with friends and go with the flow or just hang out and daydream. They forget instructions; don’t watch the weather or disappoint customers. They forget to focus. It’s a big mistake.
To impress your boss, concentrate on all the big and little details of the job. Focus on making things run smoothly and making your mark.  By paying careful attention, you may come up with some great ideas to improve sales, or engage customers or organize the shop. By focusing on your job like a professional soccer player focuses on the game (World Cup or regional league), you will improve your game – and eventually be a star.
EXTRA HOURS.  You may have a 7 hour 15 hour a week job. Yet you know that if you could work 20 hours, you’d really shine.  So do it – even if you aren’t paid for most of the extra time.
That’s how my former Newsday intern Julie managed herself – and managed to write more cover stories and feature articles than anyone else on an academic internship ever had. She chased stories on the weekends and stayed late to come up with better examples and quotes. She was amazing and impressed us with her efforts and her results. At the end of the internship, she had an excellent portfolio, some great experience – and excellent references.  (Julie now works for a National Public Radio station and from what I can tell still is a star.)
AMAZE THE BOSS. And if you can, impress the boss’ boss while you’re at it.
This is the most difficult to do, especially if you work for a boss who’s been around a while, or who has a cynical perspective or who has very high expectations, as I do. Small things – like bringing her coffee with the right amount of cream or a chocolate truffle – won’t work. Big things – like landing a new six-figure client or solving a situation that has dogged her for a month – will.
As a boss of Mity Nice, the Italian ice cart business I co-own, I’d be amazed if one of my teen employees hit $50 an hour in sales for two or three shifts in a row. And I’d be amazed if someone spent a couple of hours recruiting friends and others to our Facebook page – and doubled or tripled our count. And I’d be thrilled if someone discovered shortcuts for opening more quickly and efficiently, and taught everyone how to manage this feat.
In summary, you need to be a star in your starter job while reaching up for the step-up job and demonstrating your stellar talents for it. You need to exceed expectations.

If you really really want to work, pack your laptop and your best career clothes and head for Anchorage or Washington D.C.   Burlington, Vermont,  Memphis and Killeen, Texas, also may be profitable places to move.

According to a new Manpower report, they are among the metro areas with the strongest second-quarter hiring outlooks. Some  - notably Anchorage and Washington – have made the best places for jobs list several time.

They show up in a report that shows possibilities in many places. Hiring will “inch ahead,” Manpower said this morning in announcing this report. Twelve of the 13 industry sectors Manpower tracks expect positive net hiring in April through June, with construction and manufacturing experiencing notable improvements compared to a year ago.  The biggest gains, though, were in leisure and hospitality – good news for all the concierges, hotel managers and maids who have been looking for work.

Nationwide, 16 percent of employers expect to add to payrolls, while 8 percent are reducing them, according to Manpower’s survey of 18,000 workplaces. This means a net 8 percent hiring outlook for the second quarter —a continued gradual improvement from previous quarters.

“U.S. hiring activity is still in neutral, but revving toward first gear,” Jonas Prising, Manpower president of the Americas, said in a statement.

The overall modest hiring expectations has some exceptions, or exceptional metro areas, including:

• In Anchorage, a net 22 percent of employers are adding to staff, and the jobless rate — 7.7 percent– is pretty low.
• In Washington, D.C. 20 percent of employers expect to hire — and the jobless rate — 6.4 percent — has been among the lowest in the country for a while. (For more, check out my jobs outlook for the Beltway published in January in the Washington Post.)
• In Burlington, Vt., the jobless rate stands at 5.5 percent and a net 22 percent of employers are hiring in the weeks ahead.

These three each have hiring outlooks that are more than 2 1/2 times better than the United States as a whole.

Other cities where employers are growing ample jobs this spring include Fort Collins, Colo.; Greenville, SC.; Portland, Maine; Albany, N.Y.; Shreveport, LA and Raleigh, N.C.  About 16 to 17 percent of employers in Memphis and Milwaukee expect to bring on engineers and electricians, waiters and administrative assistants.  (There are more than five in the top five metro areas because several areas have tied net hiring scores.)

And workers still are moving for jobs. About one in seven job mid-level and higher seekers relocated to find new jobs last year, about the same as in previous years, according to a  separate Right Management report.

If you’re thinking you don’t or can’t relocate for work, the strongest hiring will come from leisure, closely followed by professional and business services – from lawyers to management consultants to advertising agencies.  Manpower said financial sector, mining and manufacturing also will experience strong hiring, and construction,  deeply in decline last year, will add jobs too.

Government was the only sector to show a negative employment outlet in the second quarter.

And the regions that are weak and struggling – and not good markets for jobless refugees –  Manpower points to San Juan, Puerto Rico and Merced, Calif., with a net negative 7 or 8 percent on the hiring prospects.  Other down areas include Las Vegas, Reno, Atlanta, Macon, GA; Portland and Champaign-Urbana.

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For updated, metro area unemployment, watch for a Bureau of Labor Statistics report tomorrow (March 10).

For more on the Manpower forecast, check out details here.

For another hiring forecast which has shown six months of gains, read the Conference Board’s report here.