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By Amanda Iacone Virginia Statehouse News RICHMOND — Virginia has spent millions encouraging businesses to add jobs or relocate to the state’s Southside region during the past two years, but the region continues to lag behind the rest of the state in jobs. In March, the region — the southern end of Virginia’s Piedmont area — had a [...]

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THOUSANDS of young Spaniards camped out in Madrid and other cities yesterday to protest against high unemployment and austerity, defying a ban on demonstrations in the run-u

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At first glance, New York’s job numbers look promising — with an unemployment rate at 8 percent, down from 9.5 percent only a year ago. New York reported that 900 jobs were created over the last year for its residents, according to state Labor Department records. But there…

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Construction rose a bit in April but is expected to remain relatively stagnant for the rest of the year. Construction jobs grew by 5,000 in April, but unemployment still remains high at 17.8 …

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Each day, Inc.’s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here’s what we found today.

Jobs report paints complex picture. With a new Labor Department report noting that first-time unemployment claims jumped unexpectedly last week, economists are shaking their heads in confusion. Claims-which were expected to drop to just more than 400,000-instead rose to 474,000, the highest level in eight months. But a separate report opens the possibility of a major rift in employment: a recruiting rift. The Society for Human Resource Management’s latest report on the leading indicators of national employment shows that in April human resource professionals were having a harder time finding candidates for both manufacturing- and service-sector jobs, up 15.4 percent and 7.6 percent respectively, from a year ago.

App wars: Android Marketplace to surpass Apple this summer. According to a new report , the Android app store will be bigger than Apple’s as soon as July 2011. Germany-based research firm research2guidance released a study today that confirms Distimo’s findings earlier this year that by the end of summer this year, the Android Marketplace will surpass Apple at 425,000 apps. Android added 28,000 new apps last month, while Apple only 11,000, the study shows. Good news for your average Joe App Developer? Not so fast. The high growth rate doesn’t necessarily mean more money for app developers.

The Wall Street Journal launches CFO Journal. The Wall Street Journal introduced CFO Journal, a web-based subscription service with content tailored to financial executives and advisors. The CFO Journal features hand-picked stories as well as original content on topics exciting for CFOs-like liquidity and accounting. It offers “an extremely efficient way to weed through the information clutter,” says Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Company. And special kudos to Matt Quinn, deputy editor at CFO Journal, who used to work with us here at Inc.com.

Shacking up at a start-up. Hey, not every start-up gets $41 million in funding right out of the gate. TechCrunch checks out the digs of LikeALittle.com, a California-based start-up that facilitates web-based flirting, that’s living a more down-to-earth start-up life. “Over the last few months we’ve seen some pretty blinged-out offices, featuring go-karts, gorgeous skyline views, and endless supplies of free snacks and beer,” TechCrunch notes. “But the reality is that most startups don’t look anything like that. Instead, they often consist of a handful of founders working (and sleeping) out of somebody’s apartment and eating ramen noodles twice a day with the occasional pizza splurge. LikeALittle (LAL) is a lot like that.”

The way to a client’s heart? Job listings. In a guest column for The Wall Street Journal, author Mike Michalowicz shares a highly effective shortcut to help businesses land new deals: Find prospective client’s job listings. By learning about the type of positions a firm is hiring for, you can learn about its language and culture and, furthermore, deduce what they have planned and what they need. “It works on so many levels. No blind cold calling. No pesky surveys. No buying lists. No direct mail,” Michalowicz writes. “This time, you’ll have something really specific to say, and you’ll know exactly how to say it, which means this time, you’ll get their attention.”

How to focus your marketing. Long before you start promoting your product or service, you should carefully assess and understand why your customer really needs it. This three-step primer takes you through how you can go about doing that–the same way the pros and marketing agencies do.

A nimble, quick, and very, very preppy pop-up. Manhattan’s latest pop-up store is actually a pop-up cottage, courtesy of Tommy Hilfiger. How’d the designer do it, and is the pop-up spectacle worth the expense? The New York Times has the story . And check out Inc.’s guide on how to open a pop-up store too.

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Friday’s payroll data set to show April jobs rise – but insufficient to bring down overall unemployment rate from March’s level of 8.8%

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AP – More people requested unemployment benefits last week, the second rise in three weeks. The increase suggests the jobs recovery will be slow and uneven. Applications had declined for about six months but have leveled off in April.

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New statistics from the state show continued improvement in jobs in Dane County, but Rock County has seen major decreases in its unemployment rate from the same time last year.

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Stocks appear headed to a lower open, ahead of reports on unemployment claims and inflation.

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Employment is moving, ever so slowly, in Barack Obama’s direction

ON APRIL 4th Barack Obama announced, to no one’s surprise, that he would seek a second term in 2012. The timing was auspicious. Three days earlier the job market, a key determinant of his re-election chances, took a turn for the better. On that day the government reported that non-farm payrolls rose a hefty 216,000, or 0.2%, in March, led by manufacturers, hotels, restaurants and temporary staffing agencies. Strapped state and local governments trimmed their payrolls for the fifth month in a row. But private payrolls, a better indicator of the economy’s animal spirits, have posted their biggest two-month advance since 2006, at 470,000.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 8.8% from 8.9%. It has now plummeted a full percentage point in four months, a feat unmatched since early 1984 and a fact Mr Obama made sure to point out. No doubt he hopes it augurs for him what it did for Ronald Reagan in 1984. Like Mr Obama, Mr Reagan endured a savage recession early in his first term that crushed his approval ratings and cost his party seats in the mid-terms. But by 1984 job creation was on a roll and Mr Reagan romped to re-election. …

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