The White House’s claim that the federal stimulus bill has created or saved a million jobs will someday earn the administration a plaque in the Dubious Assertions Hall of Fame. The Associated Press already has catalogued some fancy numerical footwork, such as double-counting, quadruple-counting, and related forms of overstatement that sometimes inflated stimulus-related job tallies by a factor of 10.

Job openings are at rock-bottom levels, according to government and private surveys released yesterday. It’s a trend that could keep the unemployment rate high even as layoffs slow. Small businesses in particular are reluctant to add workers as they struggle to obtain credit. Many are pushing their employees to produce more. Economists say small businesses account for about 60 percent of new jobs.

Judy Turner, Robert Terry and the others walking in to notes of “Pomp and Circumstance” were not your typical graduates—some were a little gray around the temples and some had grandchildren in the audience. But an uncertain economy and dismal job prospects sent them back to class. Yesterday, they earned certificates for completing an 11-week job-skills program in which topics included everything from how to use a flash drive to dressing for interviews.

Even in a recession, demand for surgical supplies continues to grow. And so AVID Medical keeps growing. The James City County-based company, which recently completed an $8 million expansion that doubled the size of its plant, is benefiting growing demand in health care for pre-assembled surgery kits. The company, with a staff of more than 500 now, continues to add jobs and expects to employ more than 600 in about a year.

Two companies in Virginia are expanding operations in the state, adding 120 jobs as a result. Insurer GEICO is expanding its mid-Atlantic operations in Fredericksburg. The insurer plans to hire 70 customer-service counselors and sales counselors by the end of the year. The Fredericksburg office currently has more than 3,500 workers.

Two Southside Virginia furniture manufacturing plants are laying off workers. Bassett Furniture Industries said it will close its fiberboard manufacturing plant in Henry County by the end of the year, ending 45 jobs. Bassett officials made the announcement Thursday. President and CEO Robert H. Spilman Jr. said the local demand for medium fiberboard has been depressed and no longer supports keeping the plant open. The plant began production in 1970.

SAIC Inc., a federal contractor that already employs about 17,500 people in the Washington area, announced it has moved its corporate headquarters from San Diego to McLean.

What does bowling have to do with climate change? A lot more than you might think. Bowling alleys use lots of lights, electricity, heating, and air conditioning systems—not to mention all the food and beverages people consume. All of these have impacts on our energy and environment. Today, our country faces many challenges—to our economy, our national security, and our climate. So, it is up to every person and every business leader to make smart choices to be part of the solution to these issues.

The American work force is headed in ways unimagined just a decade ago. Careers are out and skill sets are in. Workers should think in terms of being contractors instead of employees, academics and futurists say. Jobs will become even more portable because technology has made it easy to work from almost anywhere, including outside the country.

WASHINGTON Consider it the great disconnect of the Obama presidency. As small businesses and American families review their own budgets and make adjustments to get through the recession, the ad ministration moves inexorably in the opposite direction. Sadly, at a time when America needs jobs, the tidal wave of new federal spending and proposed commitments has been accompanied by an inexplicable lack of emphasis on job creation.

Jobs and money are coming to the Martinsville area of Southside Virginia. American Foods Group LLC sold its meat snack division to a Tennessee company that plans to invest $3 million to expand production at a plant at Patriot Centre Industrial Park in Henry County near the city of Martinsville. Employment at the facility will nearly double from 130 employees to 250 in October when the expansion is expected to take place, said Karl Schledwitz, chairman and CEO of Monogram Food Solutions LLC, based in Memphis.

Employers laid off fewer workers in July and the unemployment rate dipped for the first time in 15 months, providing signs that the country may be coming out of the longest recession since the Great Depression. Stocks soared yesterday before settling back on a better-than-expected jobs report showing that nonfarm payrolls lost 247,000 jobs in July, less than the 325,000 expected, and unemployment edged down to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent in June.

In a positive sign for the economy, companies are laying off fewer workers as they prepare to ramp up production to replenish their depleted stockpiles of goods. Many analysts pointed to yesterday’s drop in jobless claims as evidence of a trend signaling fewer job losses in coming months, particularly compared with the flood of layoffs earlier this year.

The two men topping the Republican ticket this fall pitched their jobs plan yesterday, paying attention to the state’s rural areas. Bob McDonnell, the party’s gubernatorial nominee, and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who is running to keep his post, proposed appointing Bolling to serve as “Virginia’s chief job-creation officer” and designating one deputy secretary of commerce to focus solely on rural economic development.