FOUR months into her term, half of Granite Staters approve of Kelly Ayotte’s performance as governor, largely Republicans and independents, the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found. Residents said they most approve of Ayotte’s decisions on her handling of crime (24%), finances (12%) and immigration (11%). However, 27% disapproved of her support for President Donald Trump, and 21% disapproved of her budget approach.
JUST over half (53%) of small business owners report needing more financing now than a year ago, a WalletHub survey shows. Three-fifths feel tariffs hurt small businesses, though there is still optimism about the future, as more than 3 in 5 feel this is a good time for growth. These figures come from an online survey of 200 small business owners nationwide.
PER the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sales and similar professions account for nearly a tenth of jobs in the Manchester-Nashua area, compared to 8.7% nationally. The Manchester area had 19,470 workers in such jobs, or 9.6%. Across all sectors, workers in the area earned a median hourly wage of $34.21, slightly higher than the $32.66 national average.
DESPITE concerns that DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs at workplaces discriminate against white, male employees, only 1 in 10 companies with DEI programs avoid hiring white men. That’s according to Resume Builder, which recently surveyed 1,216 hiring managers. Still, 76% of managers felt their company’s DEI program was performative, and 21% of companies represented ended their DEI programs within the past year, mainly due to the political climate.
ANALYSTS at AltIndex.com indicated in an April report that the use of artificial intelligence tools worldwide is skyrocketing. Over 950 million people are projected to use AI personally and professionally by 2030, up from today’s nearly 350 million and 115 million in 2021. That number exceeds earlier projections by 220 million users.
Compiled by Trisha Nail from press releases and news reports.
