Recession and Western States

Tough economic times head West after recession, By Christopher S. Rugaber (AP), October 22, 2010, Washington Post: “A delayed decline in home prices and drops in manufacturing and tourism have caused unemployment in western mountain states to rise faster in the past year than in any other region. The jobless rate in the eight-state Mountain West region has jumped to 9.3 percent from 8.7 percent a year ago. That’s still lower than the 9.6 percent national average. But the gap is narrowing with the rest of the nation. The jobs crisis in regions with higher unemployment has mainly stabilized. The lagging pace represents a sharp turnaround for a region that had been growing at a healthy pace before the recession. And it illustrates how broadly the Great Recession and its aftershocks are affecting the country…”