Employment

Silicon Valley experienced a decline in employment and no growth in per-capita income last year as the economic slump curbed spending. Employment in the region surrounding San Jose dropped 1.3% in December, according to a report published annually by nonprofit groups Silicon Valley Network and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The area isn't producing enough skilled workers needed to drive the next decade's innovation, the report said. Per-capita income failed to rise for the first time in five years, and venture capital investment fell 7.7%.

Former President George W. Bush has visited a Dallas hardware store that earlier this month made him a lighthearted offer of work as a greeter. Andrea Bond, a manager at Elliott's Hardware, says Bush walked into the store and quipped: "I'm looking for a job." The store had published an open letter to Bush, inviting him to apply for a store greeter position. The tongue-in-cheek appeal appeared in the Dallas Morning News. Bond said Bush spent about an hour shopping and talking to customers.

Jobless workers in California who need to use state phones and computers to file for unemployment benefits or look for work can now go to some state Employment Development Department offices on Saturdays. About 25 job centers will be open statewide from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning today. Call centers also will be staffed on Saturdays. Southern California offices that will be open include two in Los Angeles, Pacoima, Oxnard, Lancaster, Torrance, Pasadena, West Covina, Norwalk, Anaheim, Oceanside and San Diego.

One lucky child won't have to do chores around the house or sell lemonade to make money this summer. Los Angeles-based ToyQuest is searching for candidates for "the best summer job in the world" -- a toy tester who will earn big bucks to play with some of the company's latest products. The job pays $100 an hour and includes hotel accommodations and round-trip airfare to L.A. The tester will play with toys and product samples from the company's Banzai line, which includes water slides, bouncers, water and foam blasters, sprinklers and pool toys.

Then: Hawks, 48, had made as much as $400,000 a year as a franchise consultant but was laid off shortly before her money makeover in June 2007. The single mother didn't have time to attend to her finances. She didn't open bank statements and couldn't say whether her bank account contained $10,000 or $100,000. She had lost 16 years of appreciation in one $100,000 retirement account by not managing it. With only $180,000 saved, she needed much more to retire. The planner urged her to go back to full-time employment for the benefits and matching 401(k)

Then: Golightly, 46, dreamed of quitting his day job as a public relations specialist for a Southern California aerospace company and becoming a Hollywood screenwriter. When he wasn't working, he spent about 20 hours a week writing works such as movie scripts and short stories. But in November 2007, Golightly wasn't sure whether he could afford the change. The planners told him not to quit his day job. They recommended that he work for 20 more years to secure his retirement. They also advised him to re-balance his portfolio to get the most out of his savings.

Hopes that the economy could shake off the sub-prime mortgage mess and dodge recession grew fainter Friday as the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers last month added the smallest number of new jobs in more than four years -- driving the unemployment rate to a two-year high of 5%. Word that payrolls grew by only 18,000 jobs in December extended a string of negative economic news in recent weeks. Oil briefly touched $100 a barrel.

Night after night, hour after hour, Hussein Ali Mohammed sits alone in the medical clinic that employs him as a guard. It is not the job the 26-year-old envisioned when he earned his teaching degree, but it's the best he can do for now in a country teeming with educated, ambitious people -- but sorely lacking in suitable jobs that pay living wages. Years of political turmoil, U.S.-imposed sanctions and war have devastated Iraq's workforce.

From the local Lamborghini dealership to dry-cleaning shops to office cubicles, the pending sale of Countrywide Financial Corp. prompted a universal question Friday: Now what? The troubled mortgage lender is a major presence in the business and residential corridor that straddles Los Angeles and Ventura counties on both sides of the 101 Freeway. More than 600 people work at the headquarters complex in Calabasas, with about 4,500 more a few miles to the northwest in Simi Valley.

The case started with a phone call to a Spanish-speaking volunteer at a small office in San Bernardino. A Los Angeles domestic worker said her boss owed her a few hundred dollars. The U.S. Department of Labor opened an investigation and, with the help of the Mexican Consulate, discovered hundreds of workers who hadn't been paid the minimum wage or overtime for their work cleaning homes and carpets.