Suit filed over end of GAMC, By Warren Wolfe, March 4, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Legal Aid has joined the struggle over General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), the embattled health insurance program for the poorest Minnesotans, with a lawsuit that seeks to stop Gov. Tim Pawlenty from ending the program April 1. The suit was filed Thursday afternoon, even as legislators from both parties continued negotiations in St. Paul over a Republican plan to keep the program alive, though in a sharply reduced form. Legal Aid filed suit in Ramsey County seeking a one-month extension of GAMC, a move designed to give lawmakers more time to find a legislative solution. It is the second lawsuit challenging Pawlenty’s power to ‘unallot’ state funds. Meanwhile, negotiators were to meet Thursday night at the governor’s office, their third session of the day…”
Day: March 5, 2010
US Unemployment Rate, February 2010
- Jobless rate holds steady, raising hopes of recovery, By Peter S. Goodman and Javier C. Hernandez, March 5, 2010, New York Times: “The American economy lost fewer jobs than expected last month and the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.7 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday, bolstering hopes that a still-tenuous recovery may be gaining momentum. The government’s monthly snapshot of the job market found that another 36,000 jobs disappeared in February – hardly cause for a celebration. Yet compared to the monthly losses of more than 650,000 jobs a year ago, and against a backdrop of recent news that increased the possibility of a slide back into recession, most economists construed the report as an improvement…”
- Unemployment rate unchanged at 9.7%, By Don Lee, March 5, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “The nation’s unemployment rate held steady in February at 9.7%, the government said Friday, and employer payrolls dropped by a net 36,000 last month. Most if not all of the decline was seen as due to temporary work stoppages, however, stemming from the blizzards in the East Coast. The latest snapshot of the economy, though harder to interpret because of the influence of the weather, was generally consistent with a slowly improving job market in which layoffs have fallen sharply but vigorous hiring remains elusive. Economists on average were expecting net job losses of about 50,000 in February. Without the effects of the weather, some analysts said, the economy probably would have added about 25,000 to payrolls last month…”
- Feb. unemployment rate remains unchanged at 9.7 percent, By Neil Irwin and William Branigin, March 5, 2010, Washington Post: “Job losses were mild in February despite extreme snowstorms in much of the country, according to a government report released Friday, suggesting that while the labor market remains weak, it is no longer getting worse. Employers cut 36,000 net jobs, the Labor Department said, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.7 percent. Economists had expected losses of 50,000 or more jobs and for the jobless rate to tick upward. President Obama said Friday that the jobs figure were ‘actually better than expected’ considering the severe snowstorms that struck the East Coast in February, which he said apparently ‘had a depressing effect on the numbers…'”
Unemployment and Jobless Benefits – Michigan
Jobless fear end of their benefits, By Scott Davis, March 5, 2010, Lansing State Journal: “Even with unemployment benefits, Tyson Cowles is feeling a financial vise tighten around him. Jobless for 15 months, the Lansing man is four months behind on his mortgage, and a few weeks ago, he glanced out of his window to see Lansing Board of Water & Light workers about to shut off his utilities for nonpayment. He quickly borrowed $250 from a relative to avoid shutoff. Cowles, 38, a laid-off database designer, worries what will happen if his unemployment benefits expire in May, and he still can’t find work. ‘I have no idea what’s going to happen,’ said Cowles, a husband and father of a 12-year-old girl. ‘There’s other bills to pay.’ Cowles is among more than 16,000 mid-Michigan residents whose unemployment benefits are set to expire in coming months unless Congress takes action to extend the aid…”