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Investors will shift their focus this week to the U.S. job market, with the government's all-important monthly report due at the end of the week.
Jobs in holding pattern
People can begin to feel some relief after recent reports suggest that layoffs have declined for now. Economists agree that businesses are less likely to make staff cuts, while unemployment figures are not expected to drop.
Jobs are the price of productivity for many companies
Companies are doing more with fewer workers making smaller, more efficient staffs the new normal.Consider Addison-based AIM, which makes industrial equipment.When sales fell 30 percent in 2009, AIM slashed its work force from 34 to 21. President Constantine Grapsas took on the duties of his former domestic and international sales managers.Revenue doubled last year to record levels, but Grapsas ...