Deb Perelman

Reflecting record oil prices, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Jan. 11 that the trade deficit soared in November 2007, reaching its highest point in 14 months. Measuring the gap between U.S. exports and imports, the trade deficit jumped by 9.3 percent in November to $63.1 billion, exceeding the $60 billion predicted by economists. Surging […]

The value of the U.S. dollar has been sliding for more than 36 months, monitored dolefully by observers who recall the years when the dollar was the rock-solid underpinning of the global economy and are not used to the U.S currency’s chronic weakness. Yet not all view the effects of the falling dollar as negative, […]

One of the most common pieces of advice doled to IT folks from career professionals is to improve communication skills. The logic follows that the better they are able to explain what IT can do in business terms, and interpret business demands through technology, the further they’ll get in any company. Yet the ability to […]

As wireless technologies have enabled more workers to telecommute and companies to employ a distributed work force, the support of wireless devices has increasingly burdened IT departments. BlackBerrys were cited by two-thirds of respondents to a recent study as the device that usurps the most IT resources, according to CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association), an […]

New Labor Department data finds that as companies made efforts to cut costs but sidestep rounds of layoffs, there was an eight percent increase in the number of companies reducing many of their employees’ hours in 2007. Though analysts say that this isn’t yet happening in the bulk of IT departments–the exception being those that […]

The technology sector ended 2007 relatively unscathed by credit woes, while the impact of the subprime mortgage meltdown edged into other areas of the U.S. economy, which saw the sharp increase in the cost of home mortgages soften auto sales, manufacturing contracted and the services sector weakened. Observers believe that technology is healthier and more […]

U.S. manufacturing shrank by the largest margin in almost five years, despite news that the overall economy still grew in December, which marked the 74th straight month of expansion. The Institute for Supply Managements factory index, published on Jan. 2, fell to 47.7, from 50.8 the prior month. Any number above 50 signifies growth; any […]

The FBI’s most wanted murders, cop killers, bank robbers and terrorists have one more force aligned against them: digital billboards. Clear Channel Outdoor, an advertising company which operates more than 167,000 advertising displays in the United States is providing free billboard space as a public service. In a partnership between the FBI, the digital billboards […]

In a surge not foreseen by economists, new applications for unemployment benefits rose by 1,000 in the week ending Dec. 22 and the number of long-term unemployed workers jumped to its highest level in more than two years, the Labor Department reported Dec. 27. Largely driven by a slowdown in the housing sector as construction […]

If you’re like a lot of workers out there, the top of a new year seems as ideal a time as any to launch the hunt for a new job—if you’re lucky, you’ve just received your year-end bonus and your next one is far away. If you haven’t, you’re likely hoping to get one next […]