THE NUMBERS

NEW YORK STATE JOBLESSNESS RISES IN DECEMBER ALBANY – The state unemployment rate rose in December to 5.3% after months of decline, according to statistics released by the state Labor Department. The unemployment rate is up from 4.9% in November, but still below the 6.3% rate in December 2003. The national unemployment remained 5.4% in December 2004.

New York state, however, added 4,400 private-sector jobs in December, or 0.1 % of the seasonally adjusted labor force of nearly 7 million workers, according to the Labor Department. That matches the nation’s job growth in December. The greatest job growth was in health care and social assistance, which added 26,100 jobs in the past year.

Professional, business and leisure, and hospitality industries also gained jobs. Manufacturing lost the most jobs – 15,600 – during the 12-month period. Areas that lost private-sector jobs included Rochester down 0.9%, western New York down 0.6%, and Elmira down 0.9%.

New York City’s unemployment rate was 6.2%, up from 5.4% in November, but still down from 8.1% in December 2003. Statewide, excluding New York City, the unemployment rate was 4.8%, up from 4.5% in November, but down from 5.2% a year ago.

– Associated Press

WORK HABITS

WORKSPACE CONDITIONS OFFER PERSONALITY INSIGHTS A worker survey suggests the state of your workspace might offer some insight into your personality, based on your income, gender, and educational level.

The more you earn, the messier you might be, as only 11% of people making more than $75,000 annually described themselves as “neat freaks,” but 66% of those earning less than $35,000 claimed that description.

Also, college graduates said they’re messier: Sixteen percent claimed to be tidy desk workers, while nearly a third of high school graduates – 29% – said they’re neat-desk folks.

Older workers were messier, too. Slightly more than a third, 36%, claimed a clean desk, while 60% of workers 18-24 years old said they keep their spaces organized.

The results are from a telephone survey of 2,039 adults last May conducted for staffing firm Ajilon Office, part of global staffing firm Adecco Group.

– Associated Press

ONLINE SEARCHING

CAREERBUILDER PARTNERS WITH DEPAUL CHICAGO -CareerBuilder.com, the nation’s largest online job network, has joined DePaul University’s College of Commerce’s Sales Leadership Program as a corporate partner, a company spokesman said.

In addition to donating funds to the program, CareerBuilder.com is assisting in providing internships and job recruiting to help students build careers in sales and sales management. The Internet service said it joined DePaul based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections that sales employment will grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2012.

Last year, CareerBuilder.com saw first hand the growing popularity of sales positions in 2004 with the number of sales jobs posted on its site nearly doubling year over year to more than 70,000, a company statement said.

– Dow Jones Newswires

RECRUITMENT SERVICES

SULLIVAN NAMED EXECUTIVE VP OF MANPOWER MILWAUKEE – Manpower Inc. has promoted Owen Sullivan to executive vice president of the company, as well as CEO for Right Management Consultants, the employment services company announced. Mr. Sullivan, 47, will continue to lead Jefferson Wells, a role he has held since 2003. Mr. Sullivan replaces Richard Pinola, who retired as CEO of Right in December of 2004. The company specializes in permanent, temporary, and contract recruitment; employee assessment; training; career transition; and organizational consulting services. Manpower’s worldwide network of 4,300 offices in 67 countries and territories serves 400,000 customers a year, a company statement said. Before joining Manpower Inc. in 2003, Mr. Sullivan worked as a management consultant with several venture capitalists and equity groups, building strategic plans and evaluating acquisition opportunities. Prior to that, he served as president of the financial services group of Metavante Corporation, as well as president of Metavante’s Enterprise Solutions Group.

– Dow Jones Newswires