Employer-Paid

House and Senate leaders traded demands Wednesday but remained mired in a bitter holiday-season stalemate that is threatening 160 million workers with Jan. 1 tax increases and millions of the long-term unemployed with an end to their benefits.

The House Tuesday rejected legislation to extend a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for two months, drawing a swift rebuke from President Barack Obama that Republicans were threatening higher taxes on 160 million workers on Jan. 1.

Michigan employers are likely to save money on unemployment insurance and worker's compensation under changes signed into law Monday by Gov. Rick Snyder. Critics, though, said the moves could make it more difficult for injured and jobless workers to get the benefits they need.

Human resources managers play an integral role in the overall effectiveness of a company's performance, according to a recent global study by the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and RBL Group.

With neither side showing signs of yielding, a bitterly divided House debated a Republican effort Tuesday to force the Senate to negotiate a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits that expire on New Year's Day.

Nevada's unemployment rate fell to 13 percent in November in the first drop since May, but the state's labor force continued to shrink as Nevada gained only 1,300 jobs last month, according to state employment data released Monday.