With the recession officially over, employment is a lagging indicator meaning although the recession is over, it will still take some time before we start to see employment get back to normal. To supplement income, most people search for odd jobs. How do you find odd jobs? Is this odd job right for me? How much should I be paid for doing this odd job? Where do I find clients once I’ve decided on the odd job I want to do. These are the types of questions that many people ask themselves when they decide to look into odd jobs. This article attempts to help you answer those questions and also offers 8 rules you should follow when doing odd jobs.

 1.  Odd jobs are not like regular employment

There are many things that are different when comparing odd jobs to regular employment. As the word describes, it is an “odd” job meaning it is not a typical fulltime 8-5 job. You should not depend on it being your primary source of income. It can help to supplement unemployment but most odd jobs are not permanent and most don’t offer any type of benefits.

2. Don’t take an odd job just because it pays

I see this mistake all the time. Because someone is willing to pay you money to do something, doesn’t mean you should jump into doing it. You should research the employer and conditions of the job. Ensure that you are well compensated for the job you are asked to do.

3. Is it legal?

Yes, make sure the job is legal. You might think that since it is job it has to be legal. But that is not always the case. Check with your city to make sure that you are not breaking any laws by doing the job. For e.g. it is illegal in some cities to pass out flyers.

4. Who is asking you to do the odd job

It is important that you are comfortable with the person that is hiring you. This might be your only encounter with this person. Ensure that they are not taking advantage of you.

5. Where do I find odd jobs

The internet is the best and cheapest place to find an odd job. You could also check in your local newspaper and neighborhood. I heard of a website called  http://jobbullet.com that can help you get started with your search. The site is completely integrated into your Facebook account so you can navigate the site while in your Facebook account. You can find all kinds of jobs and it is free.

6. The future of odd jobs

Beware odd jobs are here to stay. Most Americans need two jobs to stay above water so I see the future of odd jobs as a bright one. The flexibility of odd jobs is one reason why a lot of people enjoy do it.

7. Should I tell my friends and family about the odd job

Yes, you definitely should because your close friends and family can guide you into choosing the right odd job that works for you. As previously mentioned, don’t do the job just because it pays; sometimes it takes someone else to help us make the right decision.

8. Don’t be scared, sky is the limit

There are all kinds of things you could do for odd jobs. People and companies always need people to do small tasks. Some pay really well. Go for it and see how far it takes you!

By Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Business Writer

On 12:03 am EST, Friday December 4, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is getting closer to generating jobs for the first time in two years, but it probably won’t be enough to stop the unemployment rate from rising.

Analysts expect the Labor Department will report Friday that employers cut a net total of 130,000 jobs in November, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. That’s an improvement from 190,000 the previous month.

The department is also expected to say the unemployment rate will remain 10.2 percent, the same as in October, a 26-year high.

Two economic reports Thursday gave some economists hope that employers will gear up hiring early next year and that the economy will start adding jobs in the first quarter. But the unemployment rate may still rise well into 2010.

That’s because 15.7 million unemployed Americans will also have to compete against a huge number of “underemployed” workers for any new jobs that are created. The government estimates there are another 11.7 million people working fewer hours than they’d like or that have given up looking for work.

It could take years for the economy to generate enough jobs for all those people and bring down the unemployment rate, analysts said.

Persistent joblessness is causing political headaches for President Barack Obama, who held a “job summit” Thursday at the White House.

Obama told the assembled economists, business executives and union leaders that the leading question of the day is, “how do we get businesses to start hiring again?”

Companies are firing fewer employees. The number of newly laid-off workers claiming unemployment benefits fell for the fifth straight week, the Labor Department said Thursday, to the lowest level in over a year.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance dropped by 5,000 to 457,000, much better than the increase analysts had anticipated.

The drop indicates that layoffs are slowing. If claims drop to about 425,000 for several weeks, that could be a sign the economy will see net job gains. That level could be reached as soon as February, several economists said.

“We’re not that far away from seeing the labor market begin to stabilize and create jobs,” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

That could take place as soon as the first quarter of next year, Kasman said. Employers have so far cut jobs for 22 straight months.

The Labor Department also said that productivity, the amount of output per hour worked, jumped at an 8.1 percent rate in the July-September quarter, the largest increase in six years.

That means companies are squeezing more output from their current work forces, and helps explain why so few employers are hiring, even as the economy slowly recovers. The nation’s gross domestic product grew 2.8 percent in the third quarter, snapping four straight quarters of decline.

But businesses can only push their current workers so much and will eventually have to hire more people, economists said.

Recent productivity gains are “absolutely remarkable and equally unsustainable,” said Carl Riccadonna, an economist at Deutsche Bank. Riccadonna also expects hiring to turn positive in the first quarter.

But the unemployment rate is likely to keep rising even if there are modest job gains. Some economists project it could peak near 11 percent next year.

That’s partly because the number of jobseekers is so high, even compared to previous recessions.

For example, the number of part-time workers who would like full-time work has more than doubled during the recession, to about 9.3 million.

There are another 2.4 million people who would like a job but aren’t looking for work, either because they have given up on finding a job or have returned to school. Those people are no longer counted among the unemployed.

When they are combined with the unemployed, the total “underemployment rate” was 17.5 percent last month, the highest since the government began tracking it in 1994.

David Rosenberg, chief economist for Canadian wealth management firm Gluskin Sheff, said the 7 point difference between the jobless rate and underemployment rate is almost double the usual gap. That’s an indication of how many more people are likely to be looking for work in coming months.

The unemployment rate is likely to climb as high as 12 percent, Rosenberg said. Those economists who expect it to peak near its current levels are “borderline delusional,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the Institute for Supply Management’s service sector index dropped to 48.7 from 50.6 in October. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a level of 51.1. Any reading below 50 signals contraction. The service sector had begun growing in September for the first time in 13 months.

The ISM measure tracks more than 80 percent of the country’s economic activity, including such diverse industries as health care, retail, financial services and transportation.

The trade group said employment shrank for the 22nd time in the last 23 months, albeit at a slightly slower pace. Business activity shrank again after growing for the past three months and backlogs contracted. But new orders, a sign of future growth, continued expanding and prices rose.

“Most indicators suggest … the economy is emerging from the recession,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday. “Yet our task is far from complete. Far too many Americans are without jobs, and unemployment could remain high for some time even if, as we anticipate, moderate economic growth continues.”

AP Business Writers Anne D’Innocenzio and Tali Arbel in New York and AP Economics Writers Martin Crutsinger and Jeannine Aversa in Washington contributed to this report.