Internships are pretty sweet deals for employers, especially during a recession that’s forced them to lay off thousands of workers. They get to cull from a pile of résumés from increasingly qualified and well-rounded students and graduates to choose interns to come work at their company for free for two, four, or six months. Where interns may have once been confined to the coffeemaker, post-grad interns may now find themselves overworked... — good.is

High joblessness and the weak economic recovery pushed the ranks of the poor in the U.S. to 46.2 million in 2010 -- the fourth straight increase and the largest number of people living in poverty since record-keeping began 52 years ago, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. — LA Times

How great are the benefits of density? Economists studying cities routinely find that after controlling for other variables, workers in denser places earn higher wages and are more productive. Some studies suggest that doubling density raises productivity by around 6 percent while others peg the impact at up to 28 percent. — nytimes.com

Steve Jobs has the right name for what's missing in America's economy. Does he also represent the way back to prosperity? We look at his record at Apple and its influence in the US and around the world. — kcrw.com

Following a drop of almost a full point in June, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) fell again by more than a point in July. allSTAR believes "its time to get creative with business strategies and contracts. also not a bad time to hire risk managers"

Following a drop of almost a full point in June, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) fell again by more than a point in July. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the July ABI score was 45.1 – the steepest decline in billings since February 2010 – after a reading of 46.3 the previous month. — aia.org

Why drop in an interview with Archinect’s founder and creative director Paul Petrunia on the MDC blog? Well, on any given day, Archinect is, well. . .bustling with architects, designers and firms who drop by the site’s highly trafficked job boards and community forums. The latter have become the net’s sweet-spot for architects looking for advice on topics ranging from the most mundane to the most ephemeral. — aiacc.org

According to court documents, Resendiz admitted in a June 2010 deposition that he was drunk when he signed nine contracts with the architectural design firm Synthesis+ for $1 million worth of work. — tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

The clinic's mandate is to expose architect students to the real world of the business by allowing them the chance to work with clients as lead designer from start to finish while giving the public exposure to the profession.

Cottrell says most of the projects the students take on are too small for architects to take on - projects such as kitchen and deck renovations for instance, to a custom home on the Rideau River in Smiths Falls. — emcottawawest.ca

This report [by David Giles with Cristina Maldonado] details the powerful economic impact of New York's architecture and design sectors. It shows that New York has far more designers than any other U.S. city, but concludes that far more could be done to harness the sector's growth potential. — David Giles - Center for an Urban Future

Fred Scharmen in a new Op-Ed entitled "Sticks and Stones; Ai Weiwei and the Uses of Architecture", offers his opinion about whether or not media should "protest the treatment of Ai Weiwei by ceasing promotion of all new architectural work in China? Should architects refuse to take on new work in China? Should we continue to support the work of architects and artists in China, but only with a disclaimer?"

As the third anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers approaches — the event that delivered the knockout punch to an already reeling U.S. economy — a trend is emerging that may have once seemed unthinkable. Firms are hiring again. — Architectural Record

Certainly, internships can provide the relevant job experience employers look for when making hires, and they give career hopefuls the chance to make industry contacts. The problem, of course, is that only the privileged tend to have the means (i.e., parental support) to pursue them without going into debt, putting those who can get by on nothing in the short run at a long-term advantage. — The New York Observer