A record high 12.5 million people are unemployed

Grim new unemployment numbers from the government show that 651,000 people lost their jobs in February and the jobless rate hit 8.1 percent, the highest in 25 years.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a loss of 650,000 jobs in February.

The survey of households found 12.5 million people are now unemployed, the most since records started being kept in 1940. Total job losses over the last six months are more than 3.3 million.

The unemployment rate jumped to 8.1 percent from 7.6 percent in January. That was the highest since December 1983, when the jobless rate was 8.3 percent.

In February, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) rose by 787,000, reaching 8.6 million. The number of such workers rose by 3.7 million over the past 12 months. This category includes persons who would like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full time jobs.

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Looking for a full or part-time job? Check out CumberlandFarms.com

Cumberland Farms donations to honor Laconia Police Officer

Cumberland Farms officials are honoring a Laconia police officer for showing compassion to a man he had arrested for shoplifting food.

The company will honor Officer Jeff Wholley on Friday with donations to the police relief fund and a statewide food bank.

Last Jan. 7, Wholley arrested a man who shoplifted four pre-made sandwiches, valued at $9.16, from the Cumberland Farms store on Court Street. Later, however, upon learning that Benjamin M. Berry, 32, took the sandwiches because he was hungry as well as homeless, Wholley returned to the store, paid for the sandwiches himself and gave them to Berry.

To acknowledge Wholley's actions, Cumberland Farms President Ari Haseotes will present a $1,000 donation to the Laconia Police Relief Fund and $2,500 to the New Hampshire Food Bank during an 11:30 a.m. ceremony Friday at the Laconia Salvation Army. In addition to the donations, Cumberland Farms will provide lunch for the Salvation Army patrons.

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Tax, Job Search and Travel Sites See Growth as New Year Begins

comScore, Inc. just released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at the top online properties for January 2009 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. The Tax category led as the top-gaining category as January marked the beginning of tax season, while Job Search, Government and travel-related sites also witnessed strong gains.

January has historically been a strong month for career sites as the beginning of the New Year causes many Americans to reconsider their current career trajectory and future goals. However, the surge in visitors this January also reflects the millions of lost jobs across the nation, resulting in significant increases to both the Job Search category (up 42 percent to 26.7 million visitors) and Career Resources category (up 26 percent to 48.9 million visitors).

The Job Search category was led by CareerBuilder.com Job Search with 12.2 million visitors (up 34 percent versus December), Monster.com Job Search with 9.5 million visitors (up 42 percent), and Yahoo! HotJobs Job Search with 7.7 million visitors (up 38 percent).

Kristie's job at Cumberland Farms

Anyone who has worked with the general public knows the challenges associated. My experience working in a C-store has actually helped with my public speaking that is necessary both in the classroom as well as now working in my career.

It all started one day I was picking up milk for my friends mother and noticed a “now hiring” sign in the window of our local C-store, Cumberland Farms. I applied for the job, got an interview and was offered a job! I worked as a full-time customer service associate for 3 years while balancing a full college course-load. I stayed in my position at Cumberland Farms because the hours were incredibly flexible and the managers were understanding and considerate of the stresses during test time.

After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Business Management, the company offered me an internal career opportunity. My experience can be evident to others shown in the perks of longevity with a company and my ability to exhibit time management.

Start your career at Cumberland Farms! Apply today!

Cumberland Farms and Gulf: A marriage of convenience

When Joe Petrowski got the opportunity to serve as Gulf Oil’s president and CEO in 2005, he jumped at the chance. Not only was he fascinated by the energy industry, but the job allowed him to return to his native Boston area.
Petrowski grew up in Brockton and attended Harvard, where he wrote his thesis on the gasoline business. After graduation, he went to work in the energy industry.
In 2005, he came to Gulf, a wholesale petroleum distributor then headquartered in Chelsea. Since October, he has been CEO of Gulf Oil and Cumberland Farms (Gulf is a subsidiary of Cumberland). Ron Sabia is now the president and COO of Gulf, and Ari Haseotes is the president of Cumberland Farms.
Like Petrowski, 54, Cumberland Farms has local roots. It was started as a farm in Cumberland, R.I. With 600 stores from Maine to Delaware, and as far west as Pennsylvania, it is now the seventh largest convenience store operator in the U.S. There are about 2,500 Gulf stations in that same area.
In May, Cumberland Farms will move out of its Canton headquarters and Gulf will move out of its Newton offices. The two companies’ 400 corporate employees will be housed in the same office in Framingham.
Read the entire article by Julie Onufrak here