Unemployment rates were higher in July than a year earlier in 338 metropolitan areas, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The rates were lower in 25 areas and unchanged in six. El Centro, Calif., and neighboring Yuma, Ariz., recorded the highest unemployment rates, 23.3% and 20.0%, respectively. By contrast, Sioux Falls, S.D., registered the lowest rate, 2.4%. Overall, 153 areas posted unemployment rates in July above the national, not seasonally adjusted figure of 6.0%, while 205 areas had rates below it, and 11 areas had the same rate.

Many companies are using personality and ability assessments as pre-employment or orientation tools in an effort to help a company hire a specific type of person for a job that might require certain traits -- or conversely, to rule out traits that are likely to lead to job failure.

Museum curators are responsible for identifying, acquiring, arranging and protecting various bodies of work. Working behind the scenes with rare objects is one of the best aspects of the job. Preparing budgets for exhibitions isn't.

Feeling particularly stressed at work? Look around you. As the economy falters and layoffs sweep certain industries, people are more worried than ever about job security. Here's what do you do when you think a co-worker can't handle the strain.

Disclosing a disability to a new employer can be beneficial if done right. Revealing a condition can help protect legal rights but can also leave you open to discrimination. Here are a few different approaches to disclosure.

A reader wonders what will become of him if a new project he's been asked to spearhead goes bust. In a rocky economy, it makes sense to worry, but holding back or asking for safeguards won't help.

The leap for Linda Watt from her first career as 29-year-veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service that culminated as the Ambassador to Panama to the chief operating officer of the Episcopal Church isn't as big as one would think.