- Quarter of adults out of work, official figures show, March 17, 2010, The Telegraph: “A total of 10.6 million people either did not have a job, or have stopped looking for one, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, which indicated that more people than ever before had abandoned the workplace – choosing instead to study, go on sick leave or just give up searching for a job. A record 149,000 left the workforce and became ‘economically inactive’, between November last year and January, the ONS said. These people more than offset the fall in the headline unemployment. Unemployment fell for the third month in a row, dropping by 33,000 to hit 2.45 million. It has yet to breach the symbolic 2.5 million mark, let alone the 3 million barrier that haunted the recessions of the early 1990s and 1980s…”
- UK unemployment records further fall, March 17, 2010, BBC News: “The number of people unemployed in the UK has fallen again, leaving the jobless rate at 7.8%, figures show. Total unemployment stood at 2.45 million for the three months to January, down 33,000 on the figure for the previous three months. But long-term unemployment, covering those out of work for more than a year, rose by 61,000 to 687,000. The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 32,300 to 1.59 million in February. Unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds fell by 34,000 to 715,000, but among the over-50s, joblessness rose by 14,000 to 398,000…”
Day: March 17, 2010
Unemployment and Jobless Benefits – Virginia
Joblessness up in Virginia, but fewer get benefits, By David Ress, March 17, 2010, Richmond Times-Dispatch: “The number of Virginians getting state unemployment benefits fell from a year ago even as the number out of work rose by one-fifth, a Richmond Times-Dispatch review of state data found. Fewer than one in three unemployed Virginians gets state benefits, the data show. These days, when people find work, their searches are lasting an average of 33 percent longer. Thousands more people than normal are running out of benefits before they find work, which makes the total of those covered decline even as unemployment rises, said Christine Chmura, chief economist of Chmura Economics and Analytics. Meanwhile, people who depend on part-time work, and others who move from one temporary job to another, can’t meet Virginia’s tough qualification triggers to qualify for benefits…”
Economic Development Incentive Program – Massachusetts
- Jobs program lost its way – and tax money, By Todd Wallack, March 14, 2010, Boston Globe: “The blue sign on the building says Nortel Networks, but it might as well be ‘Your tax dollars at work.’ In exchange for more than $2 million in state and local tax breaks, the Canadian telecommunications equipment maker promised a decade ago to expand its campus in Billerica, keeping 2,200 existing jobs and adding as many as 800 more. But instead of adding jobs, the struggling company has steadily slashed its operations for years. Today, it has 145 employees. It also still has those tax breaks, set to continue through 2014. And Nortel, amazingly, is by no means an isolated case. Over the past 16 years, Massachusetts has given away hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax breaks for more than 1,300 development projects under its Economic Development Incentive Program, which aims to encourage companies to invest here and create jobs. Often the incentives work and new jobs result. But far too often taxpayers have not come close to getting their money’s worth, a Globe review has found…”
- Rich towns get ‘distressed’ status, By Todd Wallack, March 15, 2010, Boston Globe: “Hingham boasts million-dollar estates along its scenic shoreline, stately antique houses on Main Street, and boutique shops around the town square. The median household income is nearly $113,000 a year, well above the state and national average, while unemployment is well below the statewide rate. Yet Massachusetts has long classified Hingham as ‘economically distressed.’ The South Shore town is on the state’s list of economic target areas, allowing several companies, including a six-screen movie theater and a clothing store, to qualify for special tax breaks in exchange for a promise to open there. And Hingham is not the only unlikely-seeming hard luck case. Over the last 16 years, the state has designated ‘economic target areas’ in 209 of the state’s 351 cities and towns, making companies eligible for tax breaks if they expand there. Among them are such other comfortable suburbs as Hopkinton, Bedford, Lexington, and Westwood. Though lawmakers originally created the Economic Development Incentive Program in 1993 to nudge businesses to invest in decaying cities and other areas scarred by poverty and unemployment, such as Fall River and Lawrence, the state has, over time, expanded the program to include almost any municipality that applies…”