The Virginia Employment Commission reported an increase in unemployment to 7.1% from 6.9%. They also indicated that this was primarily due to graduating students. Much of the news on unemployment continues to remain mixed, and one cause for this is related to interpretations of data. Your take on the employment market may also have more to do with your industry and region then statewide data. Regardless as improvements in the unemployment numbers swing it will be time again to shift our focus to recruiting and employee morale. Likewise, it has been proven time and again; when the market rebounds, the potential for employee shortages rises. Hence, employees and recruiting are our focus for this issue of Hampton Roads. Our articles include important information on telecommuting, office moral, employee motivation, and properly screening resumes.