- Unemployment rate drops to 9.4%, but December jobs report shows only modest gains, By Don Lee, January 7, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Employers across the country added a modest 103,000 jobs to their payrolls in December, the government said Friday, closing out the year with a bit of a whimper instead of the bang that some economists were expecting. Analysts were expecting new jobs on the order of 150,000 after recent unemployment filings and private surveys of hiring and layoffs suggested that the anemic labor market was solidly improving. The Labor Department report, however, showed that the unemployment rate dropped dramatically last month to 9.4%, from 9.8% in November. The drop was likely due at least in part to statistical adjustments, as the government’s count of unemployed workers fell by 556,000 to 14.5 million…”
- Unemployment drops sharply to 9.4%, By Neil Irwin, January 7, 2011, Washington Post: “The unemployment rate plummeted in December, as more Americans indicated they were working, according to a government report released Friday that offers new confirmation that the economy is clawing its way out of the deep downturn. The unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, the Labor Department said, down from 9.8 percent in November, as 297,000 more people said they had found jobs. That surprising drop – which was far better than the modest step-down economists had forecast – was the steepest one-month fall in the unemployment rate since 1998 and the lowest in 19 months…”
- Private sector improves jobs picture only slightly, By Christine Hauser, January 7, 2011, New York Times: “The United States economy ended the year by adding 103,000 jobs in December and with a lower unemployment rate, the Labor Department said Friday, but as thousands of Americans gave up looking for work, the numbers suggested that joblessness could continue to weigh on the recovery. The unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent last month from 9.8 percent, its lowest rate since July 2009, the department said in its monthly report. But the figures also showed that the civilian labor force declined by 260,000 in December, as many Americans stopped applying for jobs…”
Day: January 7, 2011
Recession and State Budgets
Recession-bruised states’ revenue sank 30 percent in 2009, Census Bureau reports, By Michael A. Fletcher, January 5, 2011, Washington Post: “The recession blew a huge hole in the already shaky finances of state governments, causing them to lose nearly one-third of their revenue in 2009, according to a Census Bureau report released Wednesday. The severe drop in revenue resulted largely from the big investment losses experienced by state pension funds during the worst period of the downturn. Also, the report said, tax revenue slipped while surging demand from newly needy citizens drained the funds that back unemployment benefits, publicly funded health care and workers’ compensation. Overall, total state government revenue dropped 30.8 percent, to $1.1 trillion, between fiscal 2008 and 2009, according to the report…”
Welfare and Residency Requirements – Maine
Residency requirement could be part of LePage welfare overhaul, By Steve Mistler, January 7, 2011, Lewiston Sun Journal: “Gov. Paul LePage’s decision Thursday to allow state agencies to ask people about their immigration status likely will be the first step in his plan to overhaul Maine’s welfare system. A spokesman for LePage said the governor’s executive order was meant to send a message that Maine would no longer be a ‘sanctuary state’ for people seeking a driver’s license or social services. But advocate groups for low-income individuals expect the move is a precursor to Republican efforts to impose residency duration requirements on certain welfare programs, particularly General Assistance, which disburses vouchers to qualifying families for critical living expenses, such as utilities and food. General Assistance recipients are already required to prove they’re living in Maine. However, widespread concerns that needy people are coming to Maine to take advantage of its welfare programs have prompted Republican lawmakers to introduce legislation that would require people to live here for a determined period before receiving assistance…”