AGP Executive Report

Labor Market Watch: The U.S. job picture cooled in June as employers added just 57,000 jobs, with unemployment slipping to 4.2%—but the drop largely reflects fewer people counted as unemployed, while hiring remains cautious. Veterans Employment: Unemployment for post-9/11 veterans rose to 4.8% in June, and healthcare hiring slowed, while leisure and hospitality shed jobs. AI & Work: New research argues AI may shift demand back toward blue-collar work as white-collar roles lose share, while a separate survey finds career changers are mostly excited about using AI rather than fearing it. STEM Pipeline: Rep. Don Bacon launched Nebraska’s 2026 Congressional App Challenge to get middle and high school students building apps and exploring STEM careers. Inclusive Hiring Incentives: Davao City is considering tax deductions for businesses that hire seniors and people with disabilities. On-the-Ground Career Events: NHS Estates ran a careers event in Worcestershire to connect college students to trades and technical NHS roles, and Kansas WorkforceOne set an Emporia job fair with resume help and early access for veterans and Michelin employees. Hiring Signals in Practice: A new restaurant in the Peak District reopened and created about 60 jobs, and Neptune’s Bar & Grill announced a hiring push ahead of its Biketoberfest 2026 opening.

US Labor Market: The latest jobs report shows hiring cooling sharply in June: the U.S. added 57,000 jobs (about half of May’s pace), unemployment fell to 4.2%, and labor force participation dropped to 61.5%—a sign employers remain cautious. Hiring Caution & Sector Mix: Hospitality employment (restaurants, bars, hotels) fell by 61,000, while healthcare and social assistance added about 47,000, keeping the market “low-hire, low-fire” for now. India Services Slowdown: India’s services growth hit a 17-month low in June, with hiring nearly stalling as domestic demand weakened. Career Pathways for Students: Tennessee’s Greeneville City Schools won a Perkins Reserve Grant to expand middle-school CTE, and Scotland’s rail sector is launching an earn-and-learn railway engineering programme to address skills shortages. Direct Job Leads: U.S. Customs and Border Protection will run a Colorado Springs Career Expo July 7–9 with onsite guidance and potential offers. Job Search Strategy: One opinion piece argues job seekers should focus on what they can control and stop obsessing over employer timelines and ghosting.

Labor Market Cooling: The U.S. added just 57,000 jobs in June—far below forecasts—with unemployment slipping to 4.2% mainly because fewer people are counted as jobless, not because hiring surged. Hiring Caution: Employers also revised April and May totals down by 74,000 jobs, while leisure and hospitality shed 61,000 roles despite World Cup expectations. Federal Workforce Cuts: Alaska’s federal workforce shrank nearly 16% from April 2024 to April 2026 as hiring freezes and reductions hit harder than the national median. Temporary Hiring Push: The U.S. Forest Service is taking applications for 900+ temporary jobs across several states, covering firefighting, wildlife, recreation, forestry, and admin support. Skills & Career Access: Essex Growth Agency launched a single website to connect residents and businesses to skills training, funding, and job opportunities. Workforce Development: Patterson High School expanded a paid summer internship program to 60 students, adding new city and fire district placements.

US Hiring Watch: June job growth is expected to cool, with economists pointing to ADP’s softer private payrolls and a steady unemployment rate around 4.3%, setting up a key Labor Department read on whether hiring is truly picking up. Tech & Skills: A new tool from a Singapore NUS grad targets “lowball” offers by benchmarking salaries against thousands of postings, while an IT-skills mismatch debate in Bangladesh highlights why vacancies can coexist with graduate unemployment. Cybersecurity Jobs: Omagh firm LoughTec plans 15 new roles with Invest NI support, and Nvidia’s Korea hiring signals deeper engineering work in robotics and HPC. Workforce Programs: Bristol United launches a £2m sport-backed push to help 1,000+ young people avoid NEET status, and Nevis rolls out a Summer Job Attachment Programme for 48 island youth. Education & Career Pathways: Simpson University adds a Global Studies program aimed at cross-cultural careers, and Estrella Mountain Community College expands natural gas training for pipeline and utility work. Workplace Fairness: A viral case of unpaid on-call expectations sparks renewed debate about offer terms, overtime, and boundaries for salaried staff. Local Housing: Avery County’s ribbon-cutting for permanent supportive housing marks another step in expanding affordable options.

Paid Membership Push: Dick’s is rolling out ScoreCard+ with a $99 annual fee, aiming to turn its 30M loyalty members into a steadier revenue stream via free shipping, exclusive promos, and service perks. Job Market Signals: ADP says U.S. private payrolls rose by 98,000 in June, but hiring slowed and job seekers are taking longer to land roles—while job openings remain elevated. Hiring Risk for Job Seekers: Employment scams are rising, using fake “remote task” listings and pushing victims to pay upfront or via crypto to “unlock” work. Workforce Development in Qatar: QCDC opened registration for “My Career – My Future 2026,” a five-day job-shadowing program for high school students across 18+ host organizations. Digital Skills for Refugees: ILO and Microsoft launched a Kenya program to train 1,700 refugee and host-community youth with digital skills, certifications, and career support. Public Sector Career Pathways: Illinois’ State of Illinois Career Fair is set for July 8 in Taylorville, with on-site hiring reps and resume workshops for state roles. Border Agency Transfer Plan (Malaysia): Only 54% of officers offered transfers to AKPS accepted the new service scheme, which includes salary increments and better career opportunities.

Workforce & Hiring: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service opens a 72-hour recruitment window July 6 for wholetime firefighters, with full training provided and no prior experience required. Education-to-Work: Tulsa Public Schools honored seniors at its Career Technology Education banquet, spotlighting pathways that prep students for college and industry careers. Small Business Growth: Martinsville-Henry County’s MHC EDC awarded BRIEFcase grants totaling $9,700+ to 12 local businesses to fund equipment and expansions that can support jobs. Labor Talks: Boeing and the white-collar aerospace union SPEEA begin contract negotiations Wednesday, focusing on pay, benefits, workplace fairness, flexible work, and workforce development. Inclusive Employment: A local council backed job opportunities for people with disabilities and senior citizens through partnerships with restaurant chains and companies, arguing hiring should be based on skills, not age or disability. Career Tech & Skills: Newhay Feeds teamed with the Yorkshire & Humber Institute of Technology to create farming career pathways and placements for students.

Workforce Training & Upskilling: Walters State is expanding noncredit health-care pathways with discounted fall tuition, offering clinical medical assistant, CNA, phlebotomy, registered dental assistant, and medication aide-certified tracks that can lead to optional licensure or certification. Skills-Based Job Creation: Bangladesh’s BITAC says its hands-on technical training is turning thousands of trainees into job-ready workers, with a special focus on women and employment generation. Burnout Support: The University of West Georgia launches a six-week, noncredit “Breaking Free from Burnout” series starting Aug. 19, aimed at stress management and professional well-being. Hiring & Labor Market Signals: A new US labor report points to resilient demand despite softer hiring, with job openings holding around 7.6M in May. Workplace Benefits & Inclusion: A Wisconsin funding cliff threatens child care and public lands programs, raising workforce and cost pressures for families. Career Development Recognition: NSWCPD honored employees and program graduates in its FY26 third-quarter awards, spotlighting long service and professional development milestones. Job Search Practicalities: A career coach highlights how to communicate the value you create at work—by clearly naming the meaningful difference your contributions make.

Workforce Policy: The U.S. Supreme Court expanded presidential power over independent agencies, upholding Trump’s firings of agency heads while letting Fed governor Lisa Cook stay put—an HR and hiring-policy ripple for regulators and civil service. Primary Care Funding: New Zealand’s PSAAP capitation revamp won backing from 86% of voting practices, with reweighting for deprivation, multimorbidity and rurality plus a fees freeze—good news for provider planning, but not a full fix. Hiring & Pay Practices: Australia’s Collins Foods says it will create 1,000 youth jobs at KFC as it extends opening hours, while Victoria’s new right-to-work-from-home rules could push 43% of firms to hire offshore and 47% toward contractors. Early-Career Access: Swindon’s Bus Company is recruiting 18+ trainees with paid training and job security, explicitly avoiding automated screening. Placement Gap: A viral LinkedIn post highlights “sorry, we don’t hire humanities students,” reigniting debate over campus placement and degree value. Teacher Pipeline: Tasmania’s Change2Teaching program will pay Masters of Teaching students while they work part-time in classrooms to tackle burnout-driven shortages. AI Hiring Debate: New reporting argues AI fears are rising, but some AI-heavy firms are still growing headcount—especially in entry-level roles—making the job outlook more complicated than “AI kills jobs.”

NHS Workforce: Resident doctors in England voted to accept a new government pay and jobs deal, ending months of strike disruption after a tight ballot (53% in favour, 57% turnout) with promises of pay restoration and extra specialty training places. Hiring & Pay Equity: Derby City Council reviewed updates to its city staff pay matrix after an internal six-month study flagged market movement most sharply for police and fire roles, with recent police officer vacancies failing to attract qualified applicants. Job Fraud Crackdown: Maharashtra ordered a suo motu inquiry into a Pune “job racket” allegedly using fake appointment letters, experience certificates, salary slips and PF accounts to scam unemployed youth. Workforce Access: Lidl will ringfence interview slots at new UK shops for people out of work for at least six months, fast-tracking candidates without requiring a CV. Skills-to-Credentials: Certiprof expanded university certification programs to embed industry credentials into curricula, aiming to boost graduate employability. Automation Lessons: Ford rehired 300+ veteran quality inspectors after AI-driven inspection missed nuanced judgement, improving quality once technical specialists returned. Career Pathways: Western Colorado University custodian Doug Hankins earned his degree after more than a decade, highlighting nontraditional routes back to work. Education & Jobs: Yadkin Arts Council awarded scholarships to three Yadkin County seniors pursuing arts-focused college paths.

Workforce Training & Hiring: Vermont’s Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice is launching its first paid Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA) training in August 2026, covering certification fees and aiming to place graduates into full-time roles. AI & Entry-Level Jobs: AWS CEO Matt Garman pushed back on “AI job apocalypse” fears, arguing companies should still hire fresh grads because AI will change work, not erase it. Skills Programs: Teesside University secured £1.5m for a workforce development scheme offering 24 training cohorts yearly for employed residents, targeting AI, digital tech, and leadership. Career Pathways Debate: An opinion piece challenges whether career pathways are truly working, saying we still lack clear data on what happens to students after high school. Education-to-Work: South Korea data shows one in three new doctorate holders are unemployed or inactive, with experts linking the squeeze to a shrinking entry-level market and AI-driven shifts. Local Jobs & Budgets: Boston Public Schools warned hundreds of teachers and aides may face layoffs this fall as budget pressure hits. Healthcare Internships: UnityPoint Health’s Fort Dodge ran a paid summer internship program for students across high school and college levels, focused on hands-on experience. Digital Identity Jobs Angle: Jumio expanded digital ID acceptance across 60+ countries, signaling continued demand for compliance, verification, and tech roles.

Workforce Fraud Alert: BBB reports employment scams are surging, with “task-based” schemes (like “like and subscribe” offers) and fake postings still costing victims about $1,000 on average, including cases where scammers collected IDs and banking details. Hiring & Career Transitions: Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice is launching a paid Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA) training in August 2026, covering certification fees and aiming to place graduates into full-time roles. Gig Economy Reality Check: A “forced founder” trend is rising, but LinkedIn data doesn’t neatly prove it’s just desperation—hiring slowdowns and founder growth may be linked, yet the story is more complicated than it looks. Resume Screening Shake-up: Elon Musk says he now trusts conversations over résumés, warning that “pixie dust” credentials can mislead hiring decisions. Ghost Jobs Watch: JobLeads says ghost jobs are increasingly common, with many listings staying up even after roles are filled or never existed. Senior Living & Housing: A panel in Ste. Anne highlights growing pressure on senior housing options, from zoning for “granny suites” to care capacity limits.

Workforce Pathways: Rep. Burgess Owens pushed apprenticeships and work-based learning as a real alternative to the “four-year degree only” script, arguing it helps employers build skills faster. Early-Career Pay Pressure: Singapore graduates are turning to the GRIT traineeship scheme, where allowances can be less than half of typical starting pay—an AI- and hiring-freeze-shaped reality check for new grads. Hiring & Privacy: Trinidad’s WASA refused to release hiring records, citing privacy and internal deliberations, after a Freedom of Information request about mass hiring. Job Search Tactics: A Singapore recruiter-turned-creator says tailoring every résumé is outdated because recruiters may not even see it—and AI-generated applications can look generic. Local Hiring Signals: UK shopping centers are advertising retail roles (including deputy manager and sales consultant posts) at major Midlands venues. Youth Unemployment Watch: Leicestershire data shows youth unemployment is rising, with Leicester West among the worst-hit areas. Training-to-Employment: Vermont’s Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice is accepting applications for a paid LNA training program that could lead to full-time work. Career Resilience: A workplace advice piece urges employees facing layoffs to focus on what they can control, build alliances, and remember what made them successful.

Workforce training: Vermont’s Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice is launching its first paid Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA) training in August 2026, covering certification fees and aiming to move graduates into full-time roles. Job fairs: KansasWORKS Emporia will host a free Emporia Forward Job Fair on July 9 with resume help, Spanish interpretation, and early access for veterans and former Michelin employees; Blount County is also lining up a job fair with 60+ employers and an on-site American Job Center. Hiring experiments & interview tactics: Dating.com is testing a “Chief Breakup Officer” remote role, while new research finds faster replies improve hiring odds—so “playing hard to get” can backfire. Labor market pressure: Beloit and Janesville are dealing with a youth labor shortage, with teens less available due to fewer teens, pandemic-era attitudes, and sports schedules. Career pathways for youth: Derbyshire’s Youth Employment Support service targets NEET ages 16–24 with guidance, CV help, and routes into training or apprenticeships; Snohomish County’s RAP program expands trades prep for high school students. AI and hiring: Anthropic highlights shifting “human-agent” teamwork, and Workday faces a lawsuit over alleged AI bias in job application screening.

Workforce Training & Hiring Pipelines: Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice is launching its first paid Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA) training in August 2026, covering certification fees and aiming to place graduates into full-time roles. Education-to-Work: Cache County’s new CAPS program gives high school juniors and seniors real-world career experience via business/finance or teaching internships, with plans to add more tracks. Nursing Career Clarity: Utah State University rolled out a new “Introduction to Nursing as a Career” course to help students understand the realities of nursing and consider other health-care pathways before applying to the competitive BSN program. School Safety Staffing: Bucksport’s longtime public safety chief is moving into a newly created district role focused on student behavior and school safety. Job Market Pressure: Kentucky farmers report farm bankruptcies at a six-year high as rising input costs squeeze profitability. AI Hiring Push: DeepSeek says it’s starting a major hiring spree after its recent funding round, posting openings across engineering, product, and admin roles. Interview Tactics: A career coach recommends avoiding the 11 a.m. interview slot when possible, arguing it can lead to rushed comparisons and scheduling delays.

Workforce Training: Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice (CVHHH) is launching its first paid Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA) training program in August 2026, covering certification fees and offering trainees a path to full-time roles after they earn their credential. Career Pathways: East Hartford Public Schools is planning a STEM academy at East Hartford Middle School starting fall 2027, aiming to feed students into aerospace, AI, biotech, and robotics careers. Hiring & Industry Growth: Edgerton’s data center boom is spilling into local hiring, with Cupertino Electric advertising high-paying engineering leadership roles tied to modular electrical systems for new data centers. Veterans Support: Menominee County is hosting a veterans resource fair with VA benefits, job help, education, and healthcare resources. Job Market Reality Check: A Pew survey shows AI anxiety is rising, with many workers worried about fewer opportunities and needing to adapt fast. Local Jobs: Heck (North Yorkshire) is running a jobs open day with roles on offer and plans that have already led to dozens of job offers. Workplace Safety: Nova Scotia’s workplace injury data highlights that young workers are more likely to be hurt during summer job season, pushing for better training and supervision.

Workforce & Training: Vermont Business Magazine reports Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice is launching its first paid Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA) training in August 2026, covering certification fees and offering trainees a path to full-time roles. AI & Jobs: A new $500 million effort called Raise Us—backed by major employers and AI labs—aims to help Americans navigate AI-driven workforce disruption as Congress stalls on regulation. Apprenticeships (Ireland): Ireland’s apprenticeship pipeline is expanding fast, with 87 programmes across 17 sectors and 30,536 apprentices employed by 10,191 companies, plus a push to grow women’s participation. Education Hiring: Philippines Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian urges DepEd to speed up hiring 10,000 school counselor associates to address school violence and mental health needs. Public Sector Hiring Freeze: Tobago’s House of Assembly chief signals a possible hiring freeze amid a strained wage bill. Job Market Support (US): Mesa County Workforce Center is running free July workshops on resumes, job search, interviews, and job hunting over 50. Labor Negotiations (MLB): MLB proposes tighter free-agent rules (five-year limits, no deferred pay), drawing immediate pushback from the players’ union. Career Pathways (UK): Bradford Academy’s careers fair drew 25+ stalls to help Year 9–10 students explore post-16 options. Scam Alert: Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office warns of recruitment scams using fake job postings to steal money and banking details.