Government, Politics and the Economy Jobless Claims Rise There was an unexpected jump in first-time unemployment claims even as continuing claims drop. FoxBusiness.com Management and Operations The Most Annoying People to Work With: The Top 13 Irritations Wherever you work, even in your own business, you find people who have turned the merely annoying into high art. Now that art has been classified and here are the top 13 offenders. ManageSmarter.com [Read Full Article]

Government, Politics and the Economy Small Business Job Losses Continue The mass-layoffs in the economy may have slowed, but small companies are still dropping employees to stay afloat. CNNMoney.com SBA's Mills Has the Answers for Small Business SBA chief Karen Mills discusses the challenges facing small business as well as her role in getting struggling companies the help they need. WSJ.com US Unemployment Slows Unemployment slowed last month and the overall un... [Read Full Article]

Government, Politics and the Economy Geithner: US Unemployment May Peak in 2010 According to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, US unemployment may not peak until the second half of 2010, even though the broader economy shows signs of improvement. Bloomberg.com House Approves Food Safety Overhaul The US House of Representatives has approved the biggest overhaul of food safety laws in decades in the wake of major outbreaks of food-borne disease that has left industries fighting to woo back wary consumers. Bloomberg.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Why Is America Still Not Hiring? With the release of two pieces of important employment data, we see that employers are simply not hiring, showing only on up month out of the last eight even with the economic picture improving. Why? CNBC.com Job Cuts Top 467K in June – Unemployment Now at 9.5% Unemployment reached a 26-year high in June at 95% as US employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs, suggesting a tough road to economic recovery. BusinessWeek.com Management and Operations ... [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Obama to Create New Consumer-Finance Agency According to Treasury Department documents, President Obama will propose an agency to protect consumers of financial products. This new agency would have the power to punish offending firms, set mortgage rules and crack down on deceptive practices. Bloomberg.com Management and Operations Fishy Stock Looking at the example set by Community Supported Agriculture programs, Northeastern fishing groups are selling shares in their enterprises to consumers and paying them back with weekly allotments of local, fresh-caught fish. WSJ.com [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Partisan Lines Forming Over Healthcare Reform The top Senate Democrats and President Obama appear aligned in support of a government-run health insurance option, facing off against Senate Republicans who say they refuse to won't back such a measure. WashingtonTimes.com New Bill Could Help Merchants with Credit Card Costs Under a new bill before the House of Representatives, merchants would be able to negotiate with banks to reduce the costs associated with credit card purchases. Reuters.com [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Is Obama Anti-Business? The weekly assault on business by President Obama is becoming a fixture of this administration, or is it, as some Democrats say, merely an assault on business-as-usual? Yahoo.com/USNews & World Climate Bill: It's On Its Way There is a compromise in the works on carbon caps and while it may not garner Republican votes, it could bring skeptical Midwestern and Southern Democrats on board. BusinessWeek.com [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy White House Predicts Zero Job Growth This Year Christina Romer, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, expects the GDP to begin growing in the fourth quarter of this year, but she also expects unemployment to rise after the economy turns, saying the GDP must grow at 2.5% before unemployment improves. NYTimes.com Intense Bargaining Earns Banks Stress Test Concessions After two weeks of intense negotiations, the Fed scaled back the size of the capital hole facing some of the nation's biggest banks shortly before concluding its stress tests, using a measurement of bank-capital levels that resulted in much smaller capital... [Read Full Article]