Economy sluggish and no good news to be found? Not so fast. U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are safely back in the U.S., Susan Boyle’s glam makeover is in Harper’s Bazaar, and the JK Wedding Dance video isn’t being e-mailed with quite its former intensity (and Jill and Kevin are using the fame for a good cause!).  Oh! And there’s other good news to share: Laid off workers are moving on and moving up. Almost half (48 percent) of workers who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last three months have found new full-time positions, according to Pt. 2 of  CareerBuilder’s laid off workers survey.  This represents an increase of 8 percent from March 2009 survey results.

An additional three percent found part-time positions; down from 8 percent in the previous survey. The CareerBuilder survey was conducted among 921 workers who were laid off from full-time jobs within the last 12 months.

Speaking of appearances and Susan Boyle-style makeovers, in an interesting twist, the survey found that in a tighter job market with more competition, job seekers (both men and women) are striving to preen their work suits from 1998 feathers a bit. More than a quarter (28 percent) of workers said they have changed their appearance to make themselves more attractive to potential employers.

How, exactly?

• 14 percent said they have lost weight

• 8 percent have changed their hair color or hairstyle

• 5 percent are dressing to appear younger
• Other reported vanity measures: Teeth whitening, enhanced makeup and cosmetic procedures.

Mo’ Money

• More than half (56 percent) of these laid off workers reported they were able to negotiate comparable or higher pay for their new positions.
• Forty-four percent of workers took a pay cut, but that was down from 49 percent in March 2009.

Versatility and unchartered territory

New careers: Workers are also still exploring new departments or even new career paths altogether; 38 percent of workers said they found jobs in a completely new field — and the majority said they really like their new positions.

New places to call home: One in five workers (20 percent) who were laid off in the last 12 months and found jobs relocated to a new city or state; up from 13 percent in March. Of those who are still seeking jobs, 44 percent reported they would consider relocating for a job opportunity (up 5 percent from March).

Despite a challenging job market, workers have been able to find employment opportunities in a variety of fields,” said Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America. “Even though the number of workers who took part-time positions is tracking below last quarter, the number who found full-time jobs is notably higher. This is a positive indication that more workers who were laid off from full-time jobs were able to replace them with new full-time positions instead of taking part-time work as an interim measure to generate income. Part of this job search success is related to workers expanding career options to new industries and locations.