New England’s unemployment rate was unchanged from November at 7.3 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday. more

CVS Caremark Corp. and the United Food & Commercial Workers union have signed a five-year cooperation agreement giving CVS/pharmacy employees at roughly 500 stores in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego the opportunity to vote on whether or not they want to be represented by the union. more

Rhode Island’s unemployment rate fell to 10.2 percent for December, the lowest unemployment rate for the Ocean State since March 2009, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said Thursday. more

Embrace Homes Loans has kicked off a partnership with Year Up Providence with a $2,500 donation. The partnership also includes training and mentoring by Embrace executives for interns. more

BOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick last week announced $6.84 million in Workforce Training Fund grants to 87 Massachusetts companies, including several in Bristol County. The grants, which support up to two years of training, will create 682 new jobs and train more than 6,300 workers, Patrick said. more

Construction employment declined in 151 out of 337 U.S. metro areas – including the Providence-Fall River-Warwick and New Bedford areas – rose in 126 metro areas and stayed stagnant in 60 from November 2011 to November 2012, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. more

EAST GREENWICH – Information technology staffing firm Bridge Technical Solutions has officially changed its name to Bridge Technical Talent. more

A group of small-business leaders armed with a fresh list of recommendations to boost economic development in Rhode Island said the state’s mandatory Temporary Disability Insurance could be one element among many making the state’s business climate unattractive. more

Like many Rhode Islanders, we are confused by the recent decision of Superior Court to require “mediation” of the Rhode Island Retirement Security Act of 2011. more

Most nonunion employers understandably pay relatively little attention to the National Labor Relations Board’s decisions and regulations. The NLRB administers the National Labor Relations Act and most often decides cases involving attempts to form a union or conduct of an employer dealing with its employees’ union. more