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Google is the most popular employer In the "Fortune" magazine's tenth annual ranking, Google has replaced the biotechnology company Genetech as the most popular employer. Third in the ranking is Wegmans Food Markets. On Monday, Fortune gave its reasons for making Google number one: among other things, Google offers its employees a laundry service, shuttle-bus transportation, massages and free medical services onsite. About a third of the 100 best companies offer child care onsite. In comparison with the first ranking of ten years ago, the number of companies with telecommuting rose from 18 to 82. For the ranking, 105,000 employees of 446 companies have been interviewed.

"Plutoed" Word of the Year 2006 American philologists have chosen "plutoed" as Word of the Year 2006. The word is derived from the verb "to pluto," coined after the International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto no longer qualified as one of the planets in the solar system. In the style of that decision of August 2006, "plutoed" means "devalued" or "demoted." The word of the year was chosen by the American Dialect Society. Members of the 117-year old Society are linguists, philologists, historians and scientists from other fields. In December, dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster had already decided upon the word "truthiness" as word of the year, according to an online poll. "Truthiness" was invented by satirist Stephen Colbert, who describes it as a truth derived "from the gut, not from books."

Stable US labor market Despite a cyclical downturn in the real estate market and the automobile industry, the US labor market seems surprisingly stable. The Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington reported that 167,000 new jobs had been created in a number of companies in December. However, experts acknowledge that the good numbers are in part due to the mild weather. In addition, there was a significant increase in wage rates, almost alarming, according to some economists. In December the average hourly wage again rose 0.5% compared to the previous month, to $17.04. So, for the entire year 2006, there has been a wage increase of 4.2%.

US university offers "lessons in love" An American university will offer practically oriented seminars on flirting and love, they even count as credit. "Lessons in love" from the first date to breaking up - here, students will truly learn life lessons. In room 207, the seminar id called "Finding Dates Worth Keeping" and will teach students how to find the right partner - and how to handle relationship problems. Seminars start in February at the Christian university - in the Learning Institute that usually offers communications courses and coachings in soft skills and career choice. Participants do not only get valuable advice for (love) life, but also credit for their regular university course. The syllabus includes practical advice on how to handle conflicts, assessment of personality for all participants - and also advice on how to break up.