Employee Participation

Unemployment rates rose in 44 U.S. states in July, the most states to show a monthly increase in more than three years and a reflection of weak hiring nationwide.

Pennsylvania's economy is struggling, if a Thursday report from the state on July's hiring and unemployment rate is an indication.

Wisconsin added nearly 37,500 private sector jobs between March 2011 and March 2012, though total job growth was only 1.1 percent because of government job losses, according to data released Thursday by Gov. Scott Walker's administration.

The rural economy is sputtering in 10 Midwest and Great Plains states as farmers try to cope with this summer's severe drought, according to the newest monthly survey of bankers released Thursday.

Since roughly half the jobs lost when the recession first hit have been regained, nearly all of those positions require some type of post-secondary education, according to a recent study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

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