Employer-Paid

What every small business owner should be doing or thinking about before the new year.

Gov. Rick Snyder wants to tie retraining programs to companies' needs, erase barriers keeping welfare recipients from work and encourage more Michigan residents to earn math and science degrees under an initiative aimed at making workers more competitive in the global marketplace.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose for the second straight week, a sign the hiring market is recovering at a slow and uneven pace.

The economy is picking up. If only job growth would follow.

House Republicans are drafting legislation to renew an expiring unemployment benefits program, officials said Thursday, and intend to add it to a planned extension of a Social Security payroll tax cut due to run out on Dec. 31.

Employers believe hiring for professional-level positions will grow in the first quarter; however, they are still concerned that finding qualified candidates could be difficult, according to a new survey by Robert Half, a specialized staffing firm.