The Best Employers On The Fortune 500: Report

Does your employer serve free lunch and have bocce ball courts? Google does. Perhaps part-time workers at your company receive health insurance and stock awards. They do at Starbucks.

These are just a sprinkling of the "perks" offered by companies that scored high on Fortune's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, which was tabulated based on the results of a survey conducted in partnership with the Great Place to Work Institute.

Though the survey results were based on a variety of factors such as pay scale and hiring practices, Google's famous perks might have helped the company take the top spot on Fortune's list.

College Degrees Employers Want Most

According to a recent report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, these five degrees are in demand with employers.

100 Best Companies To For 2012- FORTUNE

They're hiring!

These 25 companies have at least 700 openings each, totaling more than 56,000 available jobs. What are they looking for? Here are excerpts from our conversations with their recruiters.

Businesses You Can Start at Home

When it comes to selling products and services, the best home business is one that fits your interests and abilities.

Home-based businesses are proving to be a great solution for many women today, either as a part-time supplement to their family's income or as a full-time alternative to the 9-5 lifestyle. Could you be the next successful business owner? Consider the following service-oriented and product-oriented businesses.

If you opt for a service business, you can perform the service at home (word processing, tutoring, bookkeeping or child care) or at another location (interior design, home organizing or consulting).

Economic Mobility Highest In Northeastern States, Study Finds

If you want a shot at joining the upper middle class, then you may want to move to the Northeast.

States in the mid-Atlantic region, like New York, New Jersey and Maryland, have the greatest economic mobility in the U.S., according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Charitable Trusts. In Southern and Midwestern states like Oklahoma and South Carolina, workers are more likely to move down the income ladder rather than up, according to the study. (Hat tip to USA Today.)

Drop in jobless claims eases labor market fears

The number of Americans submitting new applications for jobless benefits edged down last week, easing concerns the labor market was deteriorating after surprisingly weak employment growth in April.

Memo to Would-Be Members of the 1%: Move to the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic

Reaching for the American dream? Your best chances are probably in New York, New Jersey or Maryland.

Those states are best at helping Americans move up the income ladder, both in absolute terms and relative to their peers, according to a groundbreaking new study from the Economic Mobility Project at the Pew Center on the States.

Generally speaking, states in New England and the mid-Atlantic had the most upwardly mobile residents, whereas states in the South had the least mobile populations.

USPS keeps rural post offices open, cuts hours

WASHINGTON -- The United States Postal Service stayed the sword hanging over thousands of rural post offices, opting instead to cut opening hours in a bid to stem devastating financial losses.

The USPS estimates that the plan will save $500 million a year once it is fully implemented in 2014. A previous proposal to close down more than 3,000 rural post offices completely would have saved $200 million a year.

Under the proposal outlined Wednesday, 13,167 post offices will open for between two and six hours a day. A spokeswoman for the USPS said no post offices will be forced to close, although communities could choose closure and switch to home delivery.

"We've listened to our customers in rural America and we’ve heard them loud and clear -- they want to keep their Post Office open," Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said in a statement. "We believe today's announcement will serve our customers' needs and allow us to achieve real savings to help the Postal Service return to long-term financial stability."


Five Jobs Where Women and Men Have Equal Earning Power

Research from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) shows that if the gender wage gap continues to close as slowly as it has over the last 50 years, it will take until 2056 for women’s earnings to equal men’s.     
 

"The labor market has changed dramatically during the last few decades"

“The labor market has changed dramatically during the last few decades,” says Heidi Hartmann, IWPR president. “Women’s labor force participation has shot up and women are receiving college degrees and graduate degrees at faster rates than men -- yet the gender wage gap is improving very slowly.”

Solar Installers Offer Deals, Gaining Converts

Jay Nuzzi, a New Jersey state trooper, had put off installing solar panels on his home here for years, deterred by the $70,000 it could cost. Then on a trip to Home Depot, he stumbled across a booth for Roof Diagnostics, which offered him a solar system at a price he couldn’t refuse: free.

McDonald's April Sales Trail Estimates as U.S. Gains Slow

McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant chain, said sales at stores open at least 13 months rose 3.3 percent worldwide last month, trailing analysts' estimates, as U.S. sales growth decelerated.

 

Analysts projected a gain of 4.3 percent, the average of 13 estimates compiled by Consensus Metrix. Sales in the U.S. advanced 3.3 percent, the slowest gain in 11 months, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said today in a statement. Analysts estimated an increase of 5.2 percent.

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