Benefits Manager

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since early April, a sign that layoffs are easing and hiring may pick up.

Ninety percent of employers offer wellness programs and are finding ways to encourage employee participation in an effort to control health care costs, finds the Advertising Specialty Institute.

According to ManpowerGroup, employers can improve their talent retention rates by defining success upfront, which is outlined in its recent paper "Hire and Retain the Best Talent With Success Mapping.

The Service Employees International Union endorsed President Barack Obama's re-election bid on Wednesday, saying it would deploy its formidable political machine earlier and on a wider scale than it did four years ago.

More than 20 percent of American adults took at least one drug for conditions like anxiety and depression in 2010, according to an analysis of prescription data, including more than one in four women.

While most employers are vigilant in ensuring workplace safety, says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, sometimes it can fall off the radar for employers that dont deal with it on a daily basis.

Key employees are optimistic about their retirement savings in 2012, but they arent optimistic about the economy, according to new research from the Principal Financial Group.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans rallied on a rare patch of common ground Wednesday, moving toward passage of legislation helping unemployed veterans and government contractors.