Low-income Southland households had biggest recession losses, By Rebecca Trounson and Sandra Poindexter, September 19, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “People of all income levels across Southern California suffered losses during and after the Great Recession, but the lowest fifth of households took the biggest hit, new census data show. Los Angeles County households whose earnings put them in the lowest fifth for income in 2011 earned 12% less, on average, than the incomes of that same group in 2007, when the recession began. The declines for low-income households in other Southern California counties were even larger, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of newly released census data. From 2007 to 2011, average earnings for the lowest fifth of households dropped 18% in Orange County, for example, and 27% in Riverside County. All incomes were adjusted for inflation. The 2011 estimates released Thursday showed that the declines were most severe in the early years of the recession…”
Income data shows widening gap between New York City’s richest and poorest, By Sam Roberts, September 20, 2012, New York Times: “The rich got richer and the poor got poorer in New York City last year as the poverty rate reached its highest point in more than a decade, and the income gap in Manhattan, already wider than almost anywhere else in the country, rivaled disparities in sub-Saharan Africa. While the national recession officially ended in 2009 and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has repeatedly proclaimed the city’s robust recovery, the census figures released on Thursday painted a decidedly sober view of how New Yorkers are faring…”
Poverty rises in Phila., suburbs, census study finds, By Alfred Lubrano, September 20, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Poverty rose significantly in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties over the last two years, while the city’s median household income in 2011 ranked second-worst among the nation’s 25 largest cities. The findings were released Thursday in the American Community Survey One-Year Estimate, an annual sampling of three million people conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report has a higher margin of error than the census, which is a separate undertaking…”
U.S. added 163,000 jobs in July; unemployment rate ticks up to 8.3 percent, By Peter Whoriskey, August 3, 2012, Washington Post: “The U.S. economy added more jobs in July, but the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent, the Labor Department reported. The monthly jobs figures released on Friday offered both good and bad news. On the one hand, payrolls expanded by 163,000 people, a promising rise after three straight months of disappointing job gains. Jobs in manufacturing rose by 25,000; there were 9,000 fewer jobs in government. “It would appear that the slow patch we’ve had since April is over,” Gus Faucher, senior macro economist at PNC Financial Services Group, said before the release of the numbers. . .”
A Tale of 2 US Employment Surveys, at a Glance, By the Associated Press, August 3, 2012, ABC News: “The U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July. Yet the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent. Why didn’t the increase in jobs lower the unemployment rate? Because the government does one survey to learn how many jobs were created and another survey to determine the unemployment rate. Those surveys can produce results that sometimes seem to conflict. One is called the payroll survey. It asks mostly large companies and government agencies how many people they employed during the month. This survey produces the number of jobs gained or lost. In July, the payroll survey showed that companies added 172,000 jobs, and federal, state and local governments cut 9,000. . .”
U.S. poverty heads toward highest level in 50 years, By Hope Yen, July 23, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “The ranks of America’s poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net. Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections. The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest level since 1965…”
Connecticut’s ribbon of hardship, By Esmé E. Deprez, July 5, 2012, Businessweek: “Jodey Lazarus’s brown eyes follow the red grapes down checkout lane 11’s conveyor belt, then focus on the cash register to verify she’s getting the 99¢-a-pound price promised in the weekly ShopRite circular. The bill is just short of $70. Lazarus, 29, takes a breath, drops her gaze and extends her silver state benefits card. The card machine fails to read the damaged magnetic strip. The cashier squints at the numbers. ‘It doesn’t swipe?’ ‘No. It doesn’t swipe,’ Lazarus murmurs. The cashier types the card code, and Lazarus signs for the groceries. This is the second time today she’s gone through this routine with a store clerk; the morning found her at La Marqueta, where onions were cheaper and the payment process just as awkward. As she pulls out of the parking lot, her 14-year-old Dodge Caravan shrieks. Just a belt or something worse? She’s not sure. It’s too expensive to repair right now anyway…”
