Employer-Paid

The toll of the recession and Florida's high unemployment rate will hit businesses next year as they will have to pay higher unemployment taxes.

Todays human resources professionals are asked to do more than ever. Between managing employee relations, benefits and work force numbers, many HR professionals are feeling overwhelmed.

Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, an encouraging sign that the job market is slowly healing. Weekly applications fell 9,000 to 397,000, only the third time since April that the figure has dropped below 400,000.

Signs of growth in the U.S. economy combined with an unexpected interest rate cut in Europe to send the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 100 points for the second day in a row.

The head of the nation's largest public employee union plans to step down, setting up a heated contest to guide a political powerhouse that has been among the biggest spenders in Democratic campaigns.

Small businesses are toning down their holiday celebrations and gifts again.