Benefits Manager

Its hardly news that employers and would-be workers often see things differently. And its admittedly been a buyers market for employers the last couple of years with a glut of out-of-work, qualified candidates, but as the job market recovers, so will the clout job seekers bring to the interviews.

Small-business employment grew by .25 percent during Febraury after a 2.75 decrease in January, according to the CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, which measures hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees.

Word that California's unemployment rate dipped below 11 percent for the first time in three years provided just a small sliver of hope but a sliver nonetheless for people who in some cases have been making weekly trips to the unemployment office for years.

Former New York Times CEO Janet Robinson retired from the newspaper publisher late last year with a severance package valued at about $23 million.

As the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced U.S. employers added more than 227,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate remained steady at 8.3 percent, the U.S. labor market could be gaining steam, according to staffing company Express Employment Professionals.

The government says it will cap pay for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac chief executives at $500,000 per year and eliminate annual bonuses for all employees. The changes come after Congress pressured the government to stop big payouts at the bailed-out mortgage giants.

Citigroup's CEO Vikram Pandit received $14.8 million in total compensation for 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing.

More work needs to be done to keep young Americans from using tobacco, including creating smoking bans and increasing taxes on tobacco products, the U.S. Surgeon General's office said in a report released Thursday.