Jobless claims average rises, initial claims jump 20,000 from 44-year low

The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 236,500 last week, up 2,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Department of Labor.

The four-week moving average decreases the volatility of...

Canada to make skilled-worker permits easier to get (The Globe and Mail)

As the US border tightens, Canada’s federal government is launching a new stream of its temporary foreign worker program to entice highly skilled workers to come to Canada, The Globe and Mail reports. The program’s new “Global Talent” pilot stream was announced Thursday morning in Toronto by...

FedEx succeeds on appeal of NLRB misclassification ruling (JD Supra Business Advisor)

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on March 3 issued a decision in favor of FedEx, denying enforcement of a decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which had held that single-route Ground Division drivers for FedEx were employees and not independent contractors, Richard Reibstein of Pepper...

HealthcareSource to acquire Centricity Contingent Staffing software platform

HealthcareSource struck a deal with GE Healthcare to acquire Centricity Contingent Staffing — a provider of software to healthcare staffing firms that was formerly API Healthcare’s Clearview Staffing Software.

Centricity Contingent Staffing software’s functionality ranges from onboarding and competency...

Barrett’s revenue rises 14% in Q4, PEO revenue up 15%

Barrett Business Services Inc. (NASD: BBSI) reported revenue rose 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Net professional employer organization revenue rose 14.9%.

While client build remained strong with 185 net new clients added, same-customer sales were affected by severe weather in some markets, with some clients...

PageGroup 2016 revenue up 3.6% in constant currency

International specialist recruitment firm PageGroup plc reported full-year 2016 revenue rose 3.6% in constant currency at prior-year rates. The increase as reported was 12.3%.

US adds 298,000 private sector jobs, exceeds forecast, ADP reports

US private-sector employment rose by 298,000 jobs in February ffrom January, according to the ADP national employment report. This is an increase from 261,000 jobs added in January.

January’s increase was revised upward from 246,000.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the report would show a...

Online job ads fall by 360,200 in February, methodology under review

US online job ads fell by 360,200 in February to about 4.5 million, according to The Conference Board’s report on online job ads.

February data incorporates the annual revisions to data. In addition, The Conference Board reported the data series has experienced a declining trend in the number of online...

As US shale oil drilling rebounds, few takers for $80,000 jobs (Bloomberg News)

Crude is nowhere near its $100-plus per-barrel highs of recent years, but drillers pounced after it steadily crept back up from the $26 bottom it sank to early last year, Bloomberg News reports. And as they tap more and more new wells, the rebound is spreading quickly, and powerfully, to the oilfield-services...

Feds may stop spouses of H-1B visa holders from working in US (CNNMoney)

The Department of Justice filed a brief in the Washington DC court of appeals for a 60-day freeze on a case involving employment authorization for H-4 visa holders. Since 2015, spouses of H-1B visa holders waiting for green cards have been eligible to work in the US on H-4 dependent visas. But CNNMoney...