According to the latest report on CNN Money.com the unemployment rate has hit a 4 year high at 5.7%. 2008 has been a bad year for those of us who like having a job, employers have cut their head count for seven straight months.This could create hardship for those recent college grads just entering the work force. The economy is widely regarded as having been in recessionary territory for several months now and a turnaround, any time soon, is not a guarantee. 

The hardships have been far reaching and layoffs have hit every sector of the economy. It is, however, not the time to panic. While employers may be shedding jobs, the jobs lost are in most cases higher paying middle management jobs and not those typically taken by recent college grads.  Read the full article at CNN.com.

CNN Money.com compiled a list of helpful information to enable voters make an informed decision this election year. This information allows users to pick the issues that they find to be of interest and shows how the front runners stack up. The information is divided into 18 categories, these include: Gas Prices, Driving, Energy Security, Taxing Wealth, Foreclosures, Mortgage Grant Rescue, Mortgage Fraud, Social Security, Personal Taxes, Taxing Business, Health Care, Bankruptcy, Savings, Free Trade, Budget Deficit, Jobs, Wall Street, and Small Business.

This resource is a great place for younger voters to get a good overview of where the leaders of tomorrow stand on topics of relevance today.   

CNN.com says it’s the top “gateway” to news with its home page generating 60 percent more unique visitors than those of its competitors in June, according to Nielsen/Netratings. CNN.com’s Political Ticker blog attracted more than 4 million unique visitors and 12.3 million page views in June, making it the number one political news blog, CNN.com says. On the video front, CNN.com served 108 million video streams, a 70 percent increase over last year, which includes nearly 4 million live streams served by CNN.com Live. The new user-generated content site iReport.com reached 4 million streams in June with more than 2.5 million unique users and 9.5 million views. Press release with more data below… PRESS RELEASE — Nielsen Online recently named CNN.com the Internet’s No. 1 news gateway, with the site’s home page generating 60 percent more unique visitors than those of its competitors. During the month of June, CNN also experienced record-setting traffic to iReport.com, the network’s uncensored, unfiltered, unedited, user-generated community Web site; and CNNMoney.com, CNN’s exclusive business site, generated an 1800 percent increase in video streams served versus last June. (Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst, U.S. and International editions combined). CNN Digital Network also ranked No. 1 among the top five news sites in June for “Time per Person” with 29.3 minutes, maintaining a significant lead over top news and information sites. CNN.com’s Political Ticker again stands as the No. 1 political news blog with more than 4 million unique visitors and 12.3 million page views in June. Providing users with the latest news and analysis from CNN’s Best Political Team, the Political Ticker maintains a strong lead over other political news blogs including those from MSNBC, The New York Times, ABC News and The Washington Post. (Source: Nielsen Online Custom Report Current Events and Global News Subcategory Blogs, June 2008 U.S. Home/Work Panel.) Read the rest of this entry »

Forbes just released the 2008 version of, “25 top places for singles.” This list chronicles the cities where the highest percentages of inhabitances are single. Heading up this year’s list is none other than the world rewound Hoboken, NJ. Now before you start packing your bags for the garden state you may want to check out the full list at Forbes.com.

Four of the top five places for singles can be found on the east coast. It appears those looking for the exciting opportunity of love should heed the opposite of the old adage and, “Head East my friend.”

For those on the west coast don’t give up hope, there are still several standouts right in your own back yard. These standouts include: #4 Berkeley, CA, #10 Hermosa Beach, CA, #17 Santa Cruz, CA, and #19 San Francisco, CA.

May sweeps is officially a disaster, and Variety has a follow-up: “The writers strike, along with the rising popularity of DVRs and the increased availability of programming on multiple platforms, conspired to make this season the lowest-rated on record for the broadcasters,” says the trade mag. The top five broadcast networks are down 10 percent in the 18-49 demographic. “The strike made this year an anomaly,” said Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori. “But we all should look at what happened to those viewership levels and be shocked into being more aggressive about our thinking. No one knows what will happen with summer viewing and into the fall.” Great quote. Great advice. Because this is most likely not a fluke. ProTwenty's View: This is a sign of the times. I feel that we will continue to see an exodus from mainstream "television set" media to online media. It will be imperative for the established news media outlets to think outside the (television) box and look to cyberspace for the answers.  

Fortune has released the 2008 version of its annual, “100 Best Companies to Work For” list, and it is no surprise that Google finds itself at the top of the heap again.  Google set itself apart in this year’s list by making millionaires of many of its employees as its stock broke $700 (Google grants stock options to 99% of employees).  Quicken Loans, Wegmans Food Markets, Edward Jones, and Genentech rounded out the top 5.

Fortune compiles this list every year with the help of the Great Place to Work Institute.  Together they surveyed over 400 companies and nearly 100,000 employees.  Employees of the candidate companies were asked to fill out a 57-question survey about their work lives.  The results are then compiled and the list is formulated.

Many young professionals struggle with how to invest their time when looking for a job.  This list can be an excellent place for those young professionals to start to compile a list of potential employers.  I am not saying that you will magically be completely satisfied with your employer if you get a job for one of these companies, but because it is an employee-based survey; it will take the guess work out of the question, “Will this company treat me well?”

If you liked this post, check out:  Forbes.com “The World’s Most Competitive Countries” List

Hulu has added new content partners TV.com (soon to be owned by CBS), TVGuide.com, BuddyTV.com, Flixster.com, MyYearbook.com, Break.com and Zap2it.com. According to Nielsen stats, Hulu now surpasses ABC.com in total videos watched (63.2 million to 60.8 million) and average minutes watched a month (129.3 minutes to 57.3 minutes.)
Pro20.com's View: Hulu.com is an excellent resource to catch your favorite shows such as "The Office," "30 Rock" and "Arrested Development." The best part about Hulu, it's free. Now, if they could only add "The Wire" my entertainment life would be complete.  

When I was growing up I loved vending machines. The idea of getting a soda, bag of chips or a Milky Way bar out of some machine for 60 cents just got me giddy. But as the years have past, and I’ve grown slightly jaded and a bit cynical, my once blossoming love affair with vending machines has turned into rage…a relationship gone to hell.

Here is the problem I have with vending machines today: Since my office doesn’t have a cafeteria, I rely on these food spitting cyborgs for my nutritional sustainability. If I want a soda I HAVE to get one out of the vending machine. If I want a cup of ramen noodles I HAVE to get it out of the vending machine. If I want a 6 month old dry turkey sandwich made by a someone in prison I HAVE to get it out of the vending machine.

When I was younger, vending machines were like that grandmother you see twice a year who gives you $50 because you grew in an inch from the last time you saw her, even though in reality it’s just because she shrunk. But now my relationship with vending machines is like that grandmother has moved into my house because she can’t walk, drools and needs to be fed baby food three times a day and have her diapers changed. It’s a burden.

And has anyone else noticed how expensive items from vending machines have gotten? It’s as if all the machines got together for some sort of conference in the break room of a downtown Hyatt and adjusted prices for soda using the OPEC manual. I mean $3 for a Red Bull, really? The frickin energy drink better give me wings, or be laced with some hallucinogenic drug that makes me think I have wings.

But the worst part about vending machines is when they steal your money. It’s like there are little dwarfs inside the machine that take the quarters and then laugh at you when you press the button for a Snickers Bar 10 times and then start shaking the machine when nothing comes out. Then, when you think you have lost all hope of having that taste of peanuts, chocolate and nu gut dancing around your pallet you do the unthinkable: You stick your hand up the vending machine.

Now, unless you have the wingspan of an NBA player you are not going to be able to reach that candy bar, and the sad part is you know this. But you have just lost $1.25, dwarfs are laughing at you and your craving for nu gut has reached the boiling point. So, despite the laws of physics you try anyway.

Like a girlfriend, vending machines can be your best companion when they are stocked with bountiful gifts in their racks. But be warned, it’s only a matter of time until that machine leaves your broken- hearted, sore and broke.

In a survey reported on PC World.com, it was found that more respondents would choose their cell phones if forced to select one item to take with them for 24 hours. Of the 2,367 people who responded to the survey (sponsored by Nortel Networks), 38 percent suggested they would select their cell phones rather than their: wallet, keys, laptop, or digital music player.

This survey is a strong indication of what most people in business already understand; cell phones are the platform of the future for business and social lives.  This is not a new development.  Over the last 5 years, cell phones have begun to catch up to their larger cousins, computers, in capabilities.  With the advent of 3G technology, cell phones are fully capable of searching the web and keeping you in touch with a client’s emails, investment portfolios, and business results.

As a Young professional, it is important to keep this in mind when making your next cell phone purchase.  In order to keep yourself from falling behind the curve, be sure your next cell phone has 3G technology.  Besides, isn’t it nice to know if you are stranded on a desert island, you can still check your email and watch the Daily Show?

Want to learn more about 3G? Check out CNet.com’s “Quick guide: 3G cell phone service.”

Here is one for the sports fans.

ESPN.com has revised their top 25 list for college football. Sure, the season doesn’t start for another three months, but with Missouri and Fresno St. both ranked in the top-25, who can wait?

Obviously, my pick to win it all in ‘09 is M-I-Z-Z-O-U. I have to go with my team. In reality, I think Missouri will be playing Florida for the national championship. Who do you have in the title game three months ahead of time? Comment below.