Employer-Paid

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply for the second straight week, suggesting the job market is slowly recovering.

Careerbuilder’s Annual Summer Job Forecast survey of 2,700 employers found that 22 percent say they are planning to hire seasonal workers for the summer, about the same from 2009.

Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue and Republican legislative leaders confirmed Wednesday an agreement to fill a $515 million funding gap for the North Carolina state employee health insurance plan while keeping a free premium option for workers intact for at least another year.

Health care costs will take another leap next year, and more employers will ask their workers to help absorb that by paying deductibles even if the care is within a plan's network of providers, according to the consulting firm PwC.

A dozen state senators in North Carolina have introduced a bill that would require citizens who are collecting unemployment benefits to get back to work as volunteers.

Health care costs have more than doubled for some American families over the past nine years, and they show few signs of dropping, according to a report released Wednesday by the actuarial consulting firm Milliman Inc.

Bill would redirect overpaid retirement system funding into payments for future retiree health benefits.

A leaked memo from Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Leo Apotheker warning of "another tough quarter" underscores the urgent concerns about the technology heavyweight's growth strategy and the challenges facing its new leader.