U.S.-based employers announced plans to trim 51,114 workers from the payrolls in August, a 23-percent decline from July, when the number of job cuts hit a 16-month high of 66,414, according to the latest report from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

The August decline follows three consecutive increases in the monthly job-cut total that saw job cuts rise from 36,490 in April to the July peak.  The August total, however, was up 47 percent from a year ago, when employers announced just 34,768 job cuts during the month.

Online advertised vacancies were down 163,900 in August to 3.99 million, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series. The August drop follows a decline of 217,000 in July and a decrease of 100,000 in June.

The supply/demand rate stands at 3.35, indicating there were just over 3 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy in July, the latest monthly data available for unemployment.

People who are disagreeable earn more than people who are agreeable, and the gap is biggest among men, according to an analysis of four surveys spanning almost 20 years.

Harvard Business Review reported this morning on a study led by Cornell University professor Beth A. Livingston that was delivered to a recent meeting of the Academy of Management.

November job growth will show small gains over last year in a hiring environment expected to remain largely weak according to a monthly survey of human resource professionals at more than 1,000 companies across the country.

The Society for Human Resource Management's Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) Report, which includes the only national employment index of month-ahead hiring expectations, shows a 10-plus point increase in November hiring plans for the manufacturing and service sectors compared to last year.

Turnover among the nation's top executives jumped 23.7 percent in May, as 125 CEOs announced their departures, up from 101 in April. It was the highest number of monthly departures since July 2009, according to a report by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Though the job market remains weak, June 2010 hiring expectations show a double-digit jump in the number of companies that will hire versus layoff according to a monthly survey of human resource professionals at more than 1,000 companies across the country.

The findings are detailed in the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment Report, which includes the only national employment index of month-ahead hiring expectations. The report shows that a net of 44.9 percent of manufacturing companies will add jobs in June as will a net of 50.8 percent in the service sector. The numbers will mark the eighth straight month that hiring will increase in the manufacturing and service sectors on an annual basis.

The National Association of State Personnel Executives announced winners of the 2010 NASPE Awards Program recently. Two of five national awards went to Washington State agencies: Washington State Department of Personnel (DOP) and Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The awards recognize great accomplishments by state government human resource management professionals.

Turnover among the nation's chief executive officers declined for the second consecutive month in April, as 101 CEOs announced their departures during the month, 15 percent fewer than the 119 departures in March, according to the latest report on CEO turnover by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Despite the decline, the April total was 29.5 percent higher than the 78 chief executive changes recorded in April 2009. For the year, 441 CEOs have left their posts, an increase of 14 percent over 2009.

Signs of the economic recovery continue to trickle in as more than 1 in 5 Pierce County businesses anticipate increasing their total number of full-time employees, according to WorkForce Central's Business Connection's 2010 Hiring Plans Survey.

In addition to the 22.2 percent of respondents who plan to increase their full-time staffs, 25.8 percent plan to increase wages.

The Business Examiner's first Who's Who? event provided the opportunity for about 120 South Sound business professionals to mingle and network with each other.

The mixer also celebrated the BE's 2010 Book of Lists. The event's participants were offered opportunities to get informed about the benefits of using the Book of Lists and to meet the Business Examiner's new editor, Mike Boyd.

The Business Examiner will host its first Who's Who? event Wednesday evening. Attendees will learn about the benefits of using the 2010 Book of Lists and have the opportunity to meet BE's new editor, Mike Boyd.

There also will be time to network with fellow South Sound business leaders.

The Pierce County Mentoring Partnership this morning recognized Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson as 2010 Champion of Mentoring.

The jurist's efforts professionally, as presiding judge for Juvenile Court, and personally, as a parent, community member and mentor, were cited at the event marking January as National Mentoring Month.

The Cafaro Co., the parent firm of the South Hill Mall, has announced the retirement from day-to-day operations of Anthony M. Cafaro, Sr. and John J. "Jay" Cafaro, effective at the end of this year. Simultaneously, each will be resigning his position in the Cafaro Co.

"My retirement and that of my brother, Jay, are part of an ongoing transition process that the company commenced several years ago." said Anthony M. Cafaro, Sr., Cafaro's president. "We very much revere and value longevity and continuity of personnel within our organization. Based upon the ever increasing responsibilities that William A. Cafaro and Anthony Cafaro, Jr. have assumed over the past decade or so, Jay and I can retire without the company missing a beat."

While most employers expect their staff levels to remain the same as recruiting patterns hold steady and job losses trend downward, a CareerBuilder job forecast showed that about 15 percent of employers will hire during the third quarter of 2010. The report concludes that about 20 percent of employers will increase their full-time permanent employees during the year, with just 9 percent planning to decrease.

"The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that job loss is moderating, a trend that will hopefully continue in the second half of the year as the financial system and economy move toward recovery," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. "Though we're headed in the right direction, we're not likely to experience significant movement in job creation in 2009. Jobs will be added, but overall, businesses will continue to be conservative in their hiring and maintain focus on existing human capital. Sixty-eight percent of employers said they don't anticipate any change in their full-time, permanent headcount in the third quarter."

The state Department of Labor & Industries has sent out a reminder to employers and workers that the minimum wage in Washington will not increase in 2010. It will remain at $8.55 an hour because the Consumer Price Index (CPI) did not increase during the past year.

This is the first time there has been no increase in the state's minimum wage since voters passed an initiative 11 years ago tying it to the CPI.

More Washingtonians were unemployed, more received unemployment benefits and more sought job-search assistance in 2009 than ever before. More than 166,500 jobs have been lost in Washington since the peak in February 2008.

Since the start of the recession in Washington, nearly 13 percent of manufacturing jobs and nearly 27 percent of all construction jobs have been eliminated.

Here are some more figures regarding the recession's effects in Washington this year and the state Employment Security Department's efforts to respond:

While the economy is beginning to show signs of improvement, it could be several years before the job market fully recovers.

However, this should not discourage people from aggressively seeking employment opportunities, according to workplace authority John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Port of Tacoma has named Erin Galeno as its new chief financial officer. Before joining the Port, Galeno spent 23 years with Weyerhaeuser Company, most recently in the position of controller for corporate support functions.

Mike Boyd is the new editor at Business Examiner, with responsibility for news content on all BE platforms. He comes to the South Sound after five years as editor of Colorado Springs Business Journal and also has experience at daily newspapers in North Carolina.

With an advance plan for 35 attendees, Tumwater's Comfort Inn Conference Center and Occasions Catering ended up serving more than 60 youth at a special holiday gathering Monday evening.

The guests were participants in the R.I.S.E. Transitional Living Program, a comprehensive program for young adults, 16 to 21 years old, who are homeless, living in unsafe situations, or have been in the state foster care system. It is operated by Community Youth Services of Thurston County.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is renewing grant funding needed to keep 200 local homeless assistance programs throughout the state operating. A quick glance at the spreadsheet shows $341,034 awarded in Thurston, Mason and Lewis Counties. Pierce County recipients will receive $2.7 million and King County grants total $20.5 million.

The grants announced today are being awarded through HUD's Continuum of Care programs. For the first time, the federal government is providing renewal grants to local programs to prevent any interruption in federal assistance and will announce funding to new projects in early 2010.