Published in The Wallstreet Journal

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Jobless workers in Silicon Valley are giving up on the region's dominant technology industry and trying to switch to other fields, as the area's unemployment rate spikes above the national and state average.

Job centers and community colleges across the region are reporting a surge in enrollment of out-of-work techies, with many looking to move into other industries, such as business voip service, organic baby clothing and mechanical engineers on Alaska Cruises. While data on the shift are scarce, the trend is evident at ProMatch, a government-funded organization in Sunnyvale, Calif., that helps unemployed professionals network, retrain and land new jobs.

Since the start of the year, ProMatch has seen its ranks swell from 180 attendees to its maximum capacity of 225. Of those, about 80% are from the tech industry, and a third are seeking to transition to nontech jobs. An additional 450 people have signed up for the waiting list to use ProMatch's services since January.

Many of the jobless techies are going back to school to pursue a bachelor degree nursing or they're targeting new gigs in the clean-energy or health-care industries. Some techies have gone as far as relocating to other states to pursue jobs such as health insurance Michigan. Some are shifting even further afield, looking for jobs at a keynote speaker bureau or as a alternative student loans agent. People are leaving tech as more tech companies are offshoring and some are shrinking, plus people are burned out and tired from having been there and done that.

The activity at ProMatch illustrates how even workers in stronger pockets of the economy -- such as tech -- are having to adjust in the recession. For much of last year, unemployment in Silicon Valley remained under control as the tech industry initially held up in the downturn. But by late last year, tech spending had weakened, and companies such as eBay Inc. were announcing layoffs.

As a result, Silicon Valley's unemployment rate -- which was below California's average and largely tracked the national average last year -- has soared, surpassing the state average in May. By June, the area's unadjusted unemployment rate was 11.8%, worse than California's 11.6% and the national rate of 9.7%, according to the latest figures from California's Employment Development Department. The rate of job losses was particularly steep in sectors such as semiconductor manufacturing, where employment dropped more than 13% in June from a year earlier.

Only a few segments of Silicon Valley's economy are now showing growth. Employment in the local health-care sector rose 4.2% in June from a year ago, according to the EDD. The clean-technology industry -- which covers energy efficiency and alternative energy, such as solar and wind power -- is also still attracting investment, pulling in $1.2 billion in venture-capital funding in the second quarter, up 12% from the first quarter.

For other Silicon Valley jobless workers, remaining in tech is often the first choice. Most unemployed techies want to stick with what they know. But with tech hiring so slow, some have little choice but to broaden their horizons.

Standard & Poor’s increased Pakistan's credit rating

LONDON: Pakistan’s long-term sovereign credit rating was raised one level to B- from CCC+ by Standard & Poor’s with a stable outlook, citing the International Monetary Fund’s additional bailout. “The upgrade reflects Pakistan’s improved external liquidity position, coupled with its successes in implementing corrective policy measures to rectify an unsustainable fiscal trajectory,” S&P said in a statement today. The IMF this month increased Pakistan’s loan package to $11.2 billion, approving an extra $3.2 billion. That prompted Moody’s Investors Service to last week raise its outlook on the South Asian country’s debt ratings to stable from negative. “A narrowing current account deficit, helped by buoyant remittance inflows, and successive disbursals of the IMF and other multilateral loans have reduced the risk of near-term external payment difficulties for Pakistan,” S&P said.

Supplementary budget likely, Pak assures IMF

ISLAMABAD: The Government of Pakistan assured International Monetary Fund (IMF) that if the tax targets are not achieved, and if it was felt so, a supplementary budget may come during the current fiscal year. According to standby programme, various tax measures would be taken to boost the remittances and these steps would be taken up in supplementary budget; also, the changes would be effected in the taxes through these steps.The parliament would approve these steps in the budget for the next fiscal years.According to report, the IMF said the international aid for the terrorist-hit affectees is temporary and Pakistan will have to increase the income through the taxes.

Prayer Carpet ... Masha Allah !!!

turkey k aik shehri OzencSoner nay roshan dhagoon say bani aik jaanamaz tayar ki hay.

is iejad nay aik benalaquami numaish main duniyan bharr say aiye afrad ko hila k rakh dia.

is ka machnisum khana kaaba ki direction k mutabiq kaam karta hay jaaynamaz ki simt jitni ziada qibla ki janib ho gi is ki rooshni main izafa hota jaye ga.

Masha Allah!

or mukamal toor pay qibla rukh honay parr ye puri rooshan ho jaye gi.

Prices of edibles go up by 25pc

LAHORE: The shopkeepers and citizens are extremely anxious, as the prices of daily-use commodities have soared up by 25 percent in Lahore even three weeks before the arrival of the holy month of Ramazan, Geo News reported Tuesday.The prices of edibles have flown up at the local largest market of grain and kitchen items. Also, the price of various kinds of pulses including masoor, maash and lobia (black eyed beans) has gone up by Rs10 to 40/kilo.The sugar price went up by Rs9/kg; while, black pepper, Coriander seeds (dried dhania), Cumin seeds (white zeera), turmeric (haldi) and black cardamom (big elaichi) also rose to Rs20 to Rs40/kg.There is no sugar at Utility Stores after afternoon.The people said this raise was made within a matter of only 15 days. The prices are feared to rise further as the holy month of Ramaz nears; however, the government is condoning the whole situation.

bank of america

Bank of America Corp. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.79 billion Friday and went on the offensive to answer critics and shore up support for the giant Charlotte, N.C., lender during a time of crisis.The loss, the first for Bank of America since its predecessor NCNB Corp. posted a loss in 1991, was down from a net income of $268 million a year ago. It came on the same day details emerged of a new agreement with the U.S. that provides Bank of America with $20 billion in additional federal aid and loss protections on $118 billion in toxic assets.Bank of America maintains it went back to the government for more support because of larger-than-expected fourth-quarter losses at Merrill Lynch and that the problems came to light after shareholders approved the Bank of America-Merrill combination on Dec. 5. But 25% of the protected asset pool belonged to Bank of America, Chief Financial Officer Joe Price said Friday, a signal that the problems weren't tied strictly to Merrill's disintegration.The nation's largest bank by assets continues to be weighed down by rising credit costs linked to the economic downturn and an array of problems confronting U.S. borrowers. It set aside $8.54 billion for bad loans in the fourth quarter, up from $3.31 billion a year earlier. Loans written off as unpaid nearly tripled, to $5.54 billion.It also reported write-downs and trading losses in its capital-markets business, including losses on collateralized debt obligations of $1.7 billion and write-downs on commercial mortgage-backed securities of $853 million.Investors sent the stock down 14% Friday, to $7.18, undermining the bank's effort to shed the best light on its situation by rushing out the release of its earnings earlier than expected and issuing a memo Thursday to employees titled "Bank of America Remains Strong." Shares fell 18% Thursday.Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis "has very little credibility with the investor public right now," said Paul Miller, analyst with Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc. in Arlington, Va.Mr. Lewis's credibility among employees may also be suffering. Many are angry not only at how the losses were handled but also that just last week they were issued compensation in the form of shares worth $14.33 apiece, said people familiar with the situation. Several employees questioned how the company could have issued the shares in light of the past week's news, these people said. Bank of America declined to comment."While these earnings and these businesses in some cases are substantially lower than earnings in normal times, they're still profitable, even with the significant increases in credit costs, lower customer activity and other market headwinds." --Ken Lewis, Bank of America CEORead the full transcript of Bank of America's conference call, provided by Thomson StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com). (Adobe Acrobat Required.).Executives at both Bank of America and Merrill have indicated the losses at Merrill ballooned in mid-December, leading to a meeting between Mr. Lewis and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Dec. 17. However, the market for various credit-related products began to deteriorate in mid-November, leaving many Merrill insiders to ask what Merrill CEO John Thain knew, and when.Merrill lost $15.3 billion during the period, and the run-up in losses was concentrated in the firm's sales and trading department, run by Tom Montag, who was hired by Mr. Thain in 2008 to run that division. The two frequently told the firm's other top managers that the losses, while significant, were largely connected to so-called legacy positions at Merrill and the losses were "market-related" and not out of step with Wall Street.Friday, some top executives and members of Merrill's board questioned privately why they weren't told about the magnitude of the losses or that the deal was possibly in jeopardy. Mr. Thain declined to comment on whether he knew about the Dec. 17 meeting between Messrs. Paulson and Lewis.Merrill incurred large losses during the fourth quarter from derivative trades with thinly capitalized bond-insurance companies whose financial health deteriorated considerably last year. Many of the derivative contracts were written to cover periods of more than 20 years, which meant the bond insurers wouldn't be on the hook for significant cash payouts for years.Mr. Lewis rejected the suggestion Friday that he and his team didn't conduct enough due diligence. "We did not expect the significant deterioration in mid to late December that we saw," he said on a conference call with analysts.Despite the need for more capital and the cutting of the bank's quarterly dividend to a penny, from 32 cents, the consumer-banking and wealth-management operations performed well in the fourth quarter, Mr. Lewis noted. The company made $115 billion in new loans during a time of crisis, he added.Meanwhile, Merrill said on Friday it will pay $550 million to settle shareholder lawsuits claiming it failed to inform investors about the risks associated with its business in the subprime-mortgage market.Merrill "vigorously disputed" the allegations, but agreed to pay $475 million to settle a suit brought by the Ohio State Teachers' Retirement System, and another $75 million to Merrill employees who held company stock in retirement programs.

A business card 4 your wild side

How many business cards does a person really need? Maybe more than you think. Increasingly, people are carrying multiple versions to reflect different aspects of their lives.While the classic white card is fine for corporate conferences and rubber-chicken luncheons, it's not so hot at social events, where people swap more personal info -- about their blogs, Web sites and side gigs. As a result, the business-card business is seeing a miniboom: Crane & Co., the stationery giant, says the cards are among its fastest-growing segments. Office-supply chain Staples has a new in-store service that produces cards in 30 minutes. Online retailer VistaPrint offers 250 cards free.Designers Vera Wang and Kate Spade have their own lines of "calling cards." Some companies even offer unique cards manufactured out of metal, wood or plastic."We see a lot of business from 'slashers' -- folks who have multiple careers," such as accountant/artist, says Rob Schlacter, vice president of business services at Staples. The requests run the gamut, he adds. "We had one order from some ghost hunters, and another from a doggie dentist."We decided to test a range of services -- from a trendy high-end one to a cheapie -- to see if they could make us look fabulous in two square inches. Our goal: to create an eye-catching card to hand out to new people we meet at, say, a party or cocktail hour.We started with Kate Spade, the handbag and accessory designer who expanded into custom stationery through a deal with Crane's. After finding a local retailer at Crane.com, we headed to the store. A clerk there directed us to the Kate Spade samples, which included oversize square cards with elephant or bumblebee motifs, and miniature rectangular ones with bright-colored borders. We picked a standard card with stripes in signature Kate Spade colors (green, pink, red, brown) on the back, and letterpress type (the kind of printing that feels indented) on the front. The clerk helped us try out different fonts and motifs -- a peacock, a penguin -- on a computer screen; he thought the dragonfly was "cute."When we asked what kind of information we should put on the card, he said anything goes. We kept it simple -- name and email address -- and chose the design on the Kate Spade sample: a classic typeface, no motif. We figured she's the designer; she knows best. But we changed the ink color to red from brown. Fifty cards cost $214, plus a $12 charge for shipping to the store (100 cards will set you back $300). A few days later, we asked if we could change the email address on the cards, and were told yes. When the cards arrived, they looked classy; but with the whopping price tag, we couldn't help but wonder: Would anyone actually know the cards were Kate Spade?Next we tried a lower-cost option at FedEx Kinko's, which offers professional design services. We brought in a little cartoony sketch to represent a personal "logo," and asked a clerk for help scanning the image and designing a card. He said he would need to send it to another shop for that, and would email a proof. We had to do a little prodding to get that proof, and when it arrived, there were three typos, and the design looked rather unpolished, in our opinion. When a second proof came, it had a fresh typo and the same general look. At this point, we canceled the order and went to the store to get a refund ($28.77 for 100 cards), but a clerk said to come back in two days and see a manager.Brian Philips, chief operating officer of FedEx Kinko's, says the company "takes quality control and customer experience very seriously."For a more traditional service, we surfed to classic stationer William Arthur's Web site and found a nearby retailer. A clerk at the store recommended that we put our cellphone number on the card, because it's more personal than email. "I'm a voice person," she noted. We decided to stick with email, and then flipped through a book of motifs (a typewriter, an old-fashioned telephone, a vintage car). We chose a whimsical picture of a flying paper airplane to embellish our cards.A William Arthur designer sent a proof, for $22, a couple days later. We thought the email address on the card looked a bit long, so we changed it to a shorter one and paid $16 for a new proof. Not including the charges for proofs, 100 letterpress cards came to $168, plus $17.50 for shipping to our home. The cards showed up in a few days and looked charming.Next up was online card-maker Moo.com, which lets customers upload their own photos to be printed on the back of the card, with type on the front. We uploaded five different arty black-and-white shots, and cropped each one on the site. Note: Moo's cards aren't standard-size: They're dinky (around half the size of a regular card), so it's important to pick designs that will work in that small format. We spent $19.99 on 100 cards, and $39.99 for express shipping from the U.K. (standard shipping is $6.99).One of our five designs turned out well -- because the photo was the most stark and clear of the bunch -- but the others weren't as strong. So the key here is to pick simple photos.We also checked out the freebie offer at VistaPrint.com. The price was right (250 cards for nothing. You pay only a shipping-and-handling fee). The company's strategy: to win customer loyalty and get people to come back and buy fancier cards next time. But after we glanced through the 42 free designs on offer (including industry-specific ones with illustrations of cleaning supplies or haircutting scissors), we couldn't find one we liked.Melissa Crowe, vice president of marketing services at VistaPrint, says the free cards are so popular, "there are more than 2.5 billion in circulation." So perhaps we're too picky.