IRP Poverty Dispatch » Employment

Recession and Demographic Groups

townsend — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:21:09 +0000

Latinos, hit hard by job losses, are making strong comeback, By Don Lee, February 5, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “After scraping by on handyman jobs for a year, Bert Qintana figured he’d have to leave his wife and teenage son at their home near Taos, N.M., and find work elsewhere. Then Qintana got a call last month from Chevron Mining, which runs a mine 20 miles away. Would he be interested in hauling muck from the molybdenum mine for $17.05 an hour? He leaped at the offer. ‘Thank God,’ said Qintana, 45, a Latino who had worked as a general contractor. ‘I was able to hang in there and not have to move.’ About a dozen other workers, most of them Latino, also were hired. Like Qintana, many Latinos with ties to the home building industry got slammed by the recession, which wiped out about 2 million construction jobs. But now, as the economic rebound picks up a bit of steam, Latinos are scoring bigger job gains than most other demographic groups and proving to be a bright spot in the fledgling recovery…”
For some black women, economy and willingness to aid family strains finances, By Ylan Q. Mui and Chris L. Jenkins, February 5, 2012, Washington Post: “The Great Recession carried special pain for black women like Jane Ladson. She had always been the one her family turned to when they needed help, and she didn’t hesitate to give it. She helped pay for weddings and rent. She made room for her nephew when her brother died of AIDS. And even now in her 50s, she took in a baby that wasn’t her own. But help was easier to give when the economy was booming and Ladson was bringing home $4,000 a month as a mechanic at Amtrak. Even an injury on the job turned into a blessing in disguise when she collected a $700,000 settlement that allowed her to build her dream home in Clinton and help her longtime partner start her own hair salon. Then the recession hit, and fate twisted the other way…”
Unemployment drop still leaves low skill workers behind, By Michael A. Fletcher, February 6, 2012, Washington Post: “The nation’s jobless rate has declined to its lowest level in three years, a fact that has left Jamie Bean, an unemployed air-conditioner repairman, feeling more left out than ever. Bean, 36, lost his job in December. Now he is scrambling to keep up with child-support payments to his wife, who is also unemployed. ‘As it stands now, I can’t afford to get divorced,’ he said, managing a wry smile. Bean’s predicament is not unlike that of many people who have a high school education or less. Not only were they hit especially hard by the recession but they have continued losing ground in the recovery that has followed. By disproportionate numbers, these Americans have given up looking for work, making the nation’s recovery appear better than it is. If the unemployment rate counted the 2.8 million people who want jobs but have stopped looking, it would sit at 9.9 percent rather than its current 8.3 percent…”

State Minimum Wages

townsend — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:02:45 +0000

Minimum wage rates may climb this year, By Paul Davidson, February 2, 2012, USA Today: “At least 17 states recently raised the minimum wage or are considering doing so in 2012, the most in at least six years. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney broke with GOP conservatives this week, renewing his call for automatic federal minimum wage increases to keep up with inflation. President Obama has backed raising the U.S. basic wage from its current $7.25 an hour to $9.50 and indexing future automatic increases to inflation. Many economists cite a growing divide between rich and poor. The federal minimum wage rate applies everywhere except in states that set higher minimum rates…”
Washington state bills targeting minimum wage die, By Jonathan Kaminsky (AP), January 31, 2012, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “Washington state lawmakers have shelved a series of bills that would lower wages at the bottom of the income scale in an effort to spur private-sector hiring. The five Republican-sponsored bills failed to come up for a House committee vote Tuesday ahead of a key deadline. Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee, said his goal in sponsoring the bills was to encourage employers to hire more workers, particularly in struggling areas of eastern Washington. ‘The little guys are what’s getting hurt,’ said Condotta. ‘They can’t push the prices up any more. They can’t complete.’ Among the bills was one to implement a tip-credit allowing restaurant owners to pay waiters and other tipped employees less than the minimum wage…”

January 2012 US Unemployment

townsend — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:48:32 +0000

U.S. jobless rate falls to 8.3 percent, a 3-year low, By Motoko Rich, February 3, 2012, New York Times: “The United States economy gained momentum in January, as employers added 243,000 jobs, the second straight month of better-than-expected gains. And in a separate measure, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, giving a cause for optimism as the economy shapes up as the central issue in the presidential election. Measured by both the unemployment rate and the number of jobless - which fell to 12.8 million - it was the strongest signal yet that an economic recovery was spreading to the jobs market. The last time the figures were as good was February 2009, President Obama’s first full month in office…”
Unemployment rate hinges on more than job gains or losses, Associated Press, February 3, 2012, Washington Post: “For most people, the 8.3 percent unemployment rate is the most visible sign of the economy’s health. The rate’s every movement is closely watched, especially in an election year. But when the rate declines, it’s not always because many more people were hired. The unemployment rate can rise or fall even when no jobs are created or lost. Last month, the rate fell because jobs were added. But that hasn’t always been the case in the 2½ years since the Great Recession ended. One reason for the rate’s decline is that fewer people are looking for work…”

States and Jobless Benefits

townsend — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:05:20 +0000

99 week maximum for jobless benefits may drop as low as 59 weeks, By Olivera Perkins, January 26, 2012, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “People thrust out of work in Ohio might have to settle for a much shorter period of unemployment benefits. Jobless workers here have been able to count on 99 weeks of benefits, but the maximum could fall to as low as 59 weeks. That possibility raises a divisive question: Is 99 weeks — almost two years — too long to draw jobless benefits…?”
Jobless benefits to expire unless Pa. House acts, By Laura Olson, January 31, 2012, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Thousands of Pennsylvanians will see their federally funded unemployment benefits expire after this week, with legislation to extend those checks lingering in the state House of Representatives. A pending measure, which passed the state Senate last week, would offer 13 additional weeks of benefits to the state’s jobless residents. The federal funding was approved by Congress in December but requires the state to tweak its unemployment compensation rules in order to receive those dollars. That bill is awaiting consideration by a House panel, which has a vote scheduled for Monday. Legislative staffers say the belatedly approved benefits would be retroactive, but pressures to also enact broader changes to the state’s unemployment compensation system could further hold up that assistance…”
Study: Safety net misses many jobless in Nevada, By Ed Vogel, January 30, 2012, Las Vegas Review-Journal: “Las Vegans Dylan Wikoff and Jorge Suescun Hijuelos know firsthand the downward spiral that occurs once you lose your job and then exhaust your unemployment benefits without finding work. ‘I ended up homeless on Fremont Street,’ said Wikoff, a 36-year-old Marine Corps veteran who was laid off more than two years ago from a sales job at a construction supply company. ‘It was a slow downward spiral for me,’ said Hijuelos, 51, a longtime union construction worker who had never been without work for more than a few weeks until the completion of the CityCenter project. ‘I sold my car, sold my bedroom set, sold everything to pay my rent. I went from a beautiful condo to renting rooms by the week. I slept in a couple of fields.’ These polite and bright men are not unusual. They actually are some of the lucky ones in the never-ending recession in Nevada…”
Tension rises over Maine bill tackling unemployment insurance fraud, By Steve Mistler, January 30, 2012, Lewiston Sun Journal: “A controversial bill that would increase the penalties for unemployment fraud and the qualifications to receive out-of-work benefits is meeting stiff resistance from worker advocates. The proposal, LD 1725, was presented by the Department of Labor, which argued that an increase in unemployment claims has been accompanied by an increased possibility of fraud. Additionally, employer advocates are championing a provision in the proposal that would stop exempting vacation pay from the waiting period to receive benefits. Opponents, however, say the bill’s proposal to increase potential criminal penalties for unemployment fraud from a maximum of one year to 10 years in prison is extreme for a state that has one of the nation’s lowest unemployment fraud rates. In addition, they say the bill’s increased work-search mandates will force unemployed workers to take a job well beneath their skill and wage level…”
Senators want to end jobless benefits for fired workers, By Gina Smith, January 26, 2012, The State: “State senators said Wednesday that they want to make sure that workers who were fired cannot get state unemployment benefits in the future. A Senate panel Wednesday advanced a bill that would prevent workers fired for misconduct from receiving any state unemployment benefits. Under current law, these workers can get jobless benefits for from five to 20 weeks, depending on the type and severity of their workplace infraction. The fired workers still would be eligible for up to 58 weeks of federal unemployment benefits under the proposal…”

Earned Income Tax Credit

townsend — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:53 +0000

IRS encourages people to apply for earned income tax credit, By Rachel McGrath, January 27, 2012, Ventura County Star: “The Internal Revenue Service is urging low- to middle-income earners in Ventura County to find out whether they qualify for a tax credit that could put thousands of dollars into their pockets. The earned income tax credit is intended to help those who work hard but don’t make much money, reporters were told Friday by Verlinda Paul of the IRS. An estimated one in five workers nationwide fail to claim the credit. One of the main reasons Americans don’t apply for the credit is because they don’t know about it, Paul said. The director of the earned income tax credit for the IRS, she spoke to reporters in a conference call. Ironically, many who might be eligible earn so little that they are not required to file a tax return and yet in order to claim the credit, a tax return must be filed and the credit applied for…”

Asset-Poor Households in the US

townsend — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:42:53 +0000

Number of asset-poor Americans rising, By Becky Yerak, January 31, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Luz Pagan, 45, has been working as a part-time cashier at a discount store in downtown Chicago for nearly three years, her requests to become a full-time employee with benefits having gone nowhere. The single mom and her 12-year-old son, Marvin, have been living in a $575-a-month studio apartment on the North Side since November. But with a work schedule averaging 15 to 20 hours a week, in a job paying about $8.75 an hour, Pagan is struggling to cover living expenses and has to scrape together money from friends and family. Her last paycheck netted $64. ‘I’m underemployed,’ said Pagan, who previously lived in a shelter for two months. She has an associate’s degree and would love an office job. Marvin’s dad helps with expenses, but she said she and her son - a mostly A and B student who wants to be a doctor - are living paycheck to paycheck, with no savings. Pagan’s plight is becoming more commonplace. Nationwide, 27 percent of households are ‘asset poor,’ meaning they don’t have enough money tucked away to cover basic expenses for three months in case of a layoff or other emergency that saps income, according to a study to be released Tuesday by the Washington-based Corporation for Enterprise Development…”

State Minimum Wage - New York

townsend — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:04:05 +0000

With focus on income inequality, Albany bill will seek $8.50 minimum wage, By John Eligon, January 29, 2012, New York Times: “The Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park is no more, but the focus it brought to income inequality is having an impact in Albany and beyond. The Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, plans to introduce a bill on Monday to raise the state’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, a 17 percent increase. The bill also calls for the minimum wage to be adjusted each year for inflation. Mr. Silver’s action follows similar steps by lawmakers across the country: Delaware recently passed a minimum wage increase, and raises are being considered in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri and New Jersey…”

Unemployment Rate - Spain

townsend — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:36:49 +0000

Spain unemployment hitting nearly 1 of 4 workers, rises to 22.8 percent, Associated Press, January 27, 2012, Washington Post: “Spain’s brutal unemployment rate soared to nearly 23 percent Friday and closed in on 50 percent for those under age 25, leaving more than 5 million people - or almost one out of every four - out of work as the country slides toward recession. Spain’s National Statistics Institute reported that 5.3 million people were jobless at the end of December, up from 4.9 million in the third quarter - a jump in the unemployment rate from 21.5 percent to 22.9 percent in the fourth quarter. For those under age 25, the rate hit a whopping 48.5 percent, and the institute also reported that Spain now has 1.6 million households in which no one has work…”

State Minimum Wage - Hawaii

townsend — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:23:37 +0000

Hawaii minimum wage could rise to $8.14 in January, Associated Press, January 25, 2012, CBS News: “A bill moving through the state Legislature could increase Hawaii’s minimum wage for the first time since 2007, but opinions are mixed as to whether elevating the wage floor would help or hinder Hawaii’s economic recovery. According to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the current $7.25 minimum wage is worth 84 cents less than when it was set five years ago due to inflation. A minimum wage increase would help Hawaii workers recover lost purchasing power and encourage more spending that can contribute to the state’s economic recovery, the Labor Department suggests. That’s not the way the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii sees it, however…”

Jobless Benefits - South Carolina

townsend — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:22:13 +0000

SC Senate panel approves unemployment bills, By Seanna Adcox (AP), January 11, 2012, Charlotte Observer: “A Senate panel advanced bills Tuesday that would require people laid off in South Carolina to pass a drug test to receive unemployment benefits, then volunteer 16 hours weekly with a charity or public agency to keep receiving a check. Though the panel heard testimony that both proposals would likely conflict with federal law, its chairman, Sen. Kevin Bryant, said afterward that doesn’t matter…”
Jobless may be forced to take drug tests and volunteer, By Tim Flach, January 11, 2012, The State: “A legislative tug-of-war started Tuesday over proposals to require laid-off workers to take a drug test initially and sign up for community service later to receive unemployment payments. Both proposals won approval from a Senate panel despite warnings the steps probably would be challenged by federal labor officials as too harsh on many of South Carolina’s nearly 214,000 jobless. The drug-test requirement breezed to initial acceptance amid complaints it is punitive. Making a test a condition for benefits doesn’t send ‘the right message,’ said Sue Berkowitz, who runs a Midlands legal service for the poor…”

Earned Income Tax Credit - Illinois

townsend — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:16:30 +0000

Quinn signs earned-income tax credit, By Sophia Tareen (AP), January 10, 2012, Springfield State Journal-Register: “Legislation aimed at helping poor Illinois families keep more of what they earn was signed into law Tuesday, a month after Gov. Pat Quinn signed companion legislation granting tax breaks and incentives aimed at keeping two big employers in the state. The new law, which is effective for the 2012 tax year, expands the state’s earned-income tax credit. It’s now 5 percent of the federal credit and will climb to 7.5 percent next year and 10 percent the year after. State officials said it would eventually translate to an average of about $100 a year per family. Currently about 900,000 families meet income guidelines in Illinois, but some advocates estimated 1 million will qualify this year…”

Jobless Benefits - North Carolina, Ohio

townsend — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:33:37 +0000

Extended jobless benefits likely to end soon for 4,777 in area, By Richard Craver, January 7, 2012, Winston-Salem Journal: “The final unemployment-benefit lifeline for about 23,000 North Carolinians appears likely to be cut off as scheduled on Jan. 28. Although Congress agreed Dec. 23 to extend federal benefits for two months, it appears unlikely that the General Assembly will agree to allow North Carolina to borrow more money from the U.S. Labor Department. As of Dec. 29, North Carolina had borrowed $2.67 billion from the federal government - the fourth-highest amount among 27 participating states - to pay up to 20 weeks of state-extended unemployment benefits. Those benefits are available only after claimants exhaust up to 26 weeks of initial state benefits and up to 53 weeks - representing four tiers - of federal benefits. There are 4,777 people in the Triad and Northwest North Carolina in the extended state benefit level. The state’s unemployment rate was 10 percent in November. The national rate was 8.5 percent in December, officials announced Friday…”
Extra jobless benefits in peril, By Catherine Candisky, January 7, 2012, Columbus Dispatch: “More than 20,000 long-term unemployed Ohioans will lose up to 20 weeks of jobless benefits unless state lawmakers agree to take advantage of a more-favorable formula for determining which states qualify for the federal aid. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is urging legislators to make the fix, which will cost the state nothing because the benefits are funded entirely by the federal government, said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman for the state agency which oversees unemployment benefits. The Republican-controlled General Assembly is expected to oblige…”

Joblessness and Unemployment

townsend — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:40:18 +0000

US ended year with a surge of hiring, adding 200,000 jobs; unemployment rate at 8.5 percent, Associated Press, January 6, 2012, Washington Post: “Four painful years after the Great Recession struck and wiped out 8.7 million jobs, the United States may finally be in an elusive pattern known as a virtuous cycle - an escalating loop of hiring and spending. The nation added 200,000 jobs in December in a burst of hiring that drove the unemployment rate down two notches to 8.5 percent, its lowest in almost three years, and led economists to conclude that the improvement in the job market might just last…”
U.S. economy gains steam as 200,000 jobs are added, By Shaila Dewan, January 6, 2012, New York Times: “Maybe it is time to start calling the glass half full. The United States added 200,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday, a robust number that came on the heels of a flurry of heartening economic news. Consumer confidence has lifted, factories have stepped up production and small businesses are showing signs of life. The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent, its lowest level in nearly two years. It was the sixth consecutive month that the economy showed a net gain of more than 100,000 jobs - not enough to restore employment to prerecession levels but enough, perhaps, to cheer President Obama as he enters the election year…”

Jobless Benefits and Unemployment - Wisconsin, Michigan

townsend — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:35:57 +0000

Jobless benefits change to start this week, By Josh Lintereur and Chad Dally, January 2, 2012, Wausau Daily Herald: “A new state budget provision requiring a one-week waiting period before unemployed workers can begin collecting unemployment benefits takes effect this week. The new provision will affect the newly unemployed and those already collecting benefits. In some cases, it will result in a laid-off worker receiving one less check than he or she would have in the past. State lawmakers made the change as part of the 2011-13 biennial budget, meaning Wisconsin will join more than three dozen states that already have instituted waiting periods. State labor officials said the delay will save an estimated $45.2 million a year by allowing additional time to determine eligibility and reduce improper payments, and by pushing the payment schedule back…”
Many of state’s jobless struggle: No benefits, no job and no luck finding one, By Scott Davis, December 29, 2011, Lansing State Journal: “Thousands of Michigan’s unemployed have a renewed lifeline with last week’s extension of federal jobless benefits. But Virona Brown could be among the thousands who will begin the New Year with no job prospects, unreturned calls on employment applications and no unemployment check to pay basic necessities. Though Michigan’s unemployment rate dipped to 9.8 percent last month, the Lansing woman and several others say they are still struggling to find employment in the region…”

State Minimum Wages

townsend — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:34:32 +0000

Minimum wage milestone: Why Washington State surpassed $9 an hour, By Aaron Lester, January 2, 2012, Christian Science Monitor: “Low-wage earners have a little more to celebrate this new year, at least in eight states. In those states, 2012 means a higher minimum wage, under laws that peg the wage floor to inflation. The increase makes Washington the first state to set its minimum wage higher than $9 an hour. Why Washington? Why now? Simple. Washington pegs its minimum wage to the consumer price index, says Paul Sonn of the National Employment Law Project. That means whenever the cost of living increases, so does the minimum wage there Nine other states do the same. (One of them, Missouri, opted for no change this year, and Nevada’s increase won’t kick in until midyear, leaving eight states where the minimum wage rose as of Jan. 1.) But Washington has been using that CPI-based formula since 2001, longer than any other state, and that’s why its hourly wage is highest…”
Raising the minimum wage: Whom does it help?, By Martin Kaste, January 3, 2012, National Public Radio: “For some of America’s lowest-paid workers, the new year means a pay raise. Some states set their own minimum wages, above the federal rate of $7.25 an hour, and that rekindles an old debate over whether minimum wages make sense - especially at a time of high unemployment. Like several other states, Washington state’s minimum wage is indexed to the cost of living. This year, the formula has raised the statewide minimum from $8.67 to $9.04 an hour, making it the nation’s highest statewide rate…”

Earned Income Tax Credit - Wisconsin

townsend — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:52:29 +0000

Wisconsin one of few states that will raise taxes on poor, By Michael Louis Vinson, December 28, 2011, Appleton Post-Crescent: “As Wisconsinites await W-2 forms and related tax documents, hundreds of thousands of low-income families are bracing for a state budget change that will mean less money in their wallets next year. Last summer, the state Legislature reduced the amount of money low- income families can receive in tax credits by $56.2 million. That places Wisconsin among only a handful of states that will effectively raise taxes on their poorest residents in 2012, according to a recent study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit think tank…”

State Minimum Wages

townsend — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:18:02 +0000

Wage floor is increasing in 8 states in new year, By Catherine Rampell, December 23, 2011, New York Times: “Eight states will ring in the New Year with a higher minimum wage, under state laws that require wage floors to keep apace with inflation. San Francisco, one of the few cities that sets its own minimum wage above the federal level, is also raising wages for the lowest-paid workers in the new year. It will become the first big city in the country to require companies to pay their workers more than $10 an hour. The minimum wage increases in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington will be 28 cents to 37 cents an hour, according to the National Employment Law Project. That is an extra $582 to $770 a year for a full-time minimum wage worker, and resets these states’ minimum wages to $7.64 to $9.04 an hour…”

Joblessness and Unemployment

townsend — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:05:16 +0000

Unemployment fell in 43 states in November, By Martin Crutsinger (AP), December 20, 2011, Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Unemployment rates fell in 43 states in November, the most number of states to report such declines in eight years. The falling state rates reflect the brightening jobs picture nationally. The U.S. unemployment rate fell sharply in November to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009. The economy has generated 100,000 or more jobs five months in a row - the first time that’s happened since 2006, before the Great Recession. Only three states reported higher unemployment rates in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Four states showed no change…”
Bills to restructure Michigan jobless, workers comp insurance systems signed, By Dawson Bell, December 20, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation Monday to restructure Michigan’s unemployment and workers compensation insurance systems, changes he said would ‘ensure their solvency and integrity.’ The bills, approved earlier this month by the Legislature, authorize the issuance of revenue bonds to pay off the state’s $3-billion federal unemployment insurance debt, saving the state about $117 million in 2012 and sparing employers more than $270 million in federal penalties, administration officials said. The debt arose from a decade of high unemployment in Michigan, as unemployment taxes assessed on employers have not kept pace with claims made by Michigan workers…”

State Minimum Wage - Florida

townsend — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:29:05 +0000

Florida minimum wage inches up, By Tim Engstrom, December 18, 2011, News-Press: “Florida’s lowest-paid workers will get a raise on Jan. 1 with an increased Florida minimum wage, but local employers say most workers - except tipped employees like restaurant servers - won’t notice because they already earn more. Florida’s minimum hourly wage will jump 4.9 percent to $7.67 an hour. That becomes an extra $14.40 for a 40-hour week for a total gross pay of $306.80 for the week. That adds up to annual pay of $15,953.60. The minimum hourly wage for tipped employees jumps to $4.65…”

Extension of Jobless Benefits

townsend — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:21:29 +0000

Congress weighing length of jobless benefits, By Tom Raum (AP), December 14, 2011, Boston Globe: “Is there any downside to extending federal jobless benefits, as Congress is about to do? The benefits are a crucial lifeline to the longtime unemployed. But they also can be a disincentive to looking for work and prolong joblessness, economists say, as lawmakers weigh shortening them. If Congress does nothing, the current law that provides federal benefits to augment state assistance that last for only 26 weeks will expire at the end of this month. As a result, more than a million out-of-work Americans could lose their benefits in January, and a total of five million could lose them by year’s end. The Republican-led House has passed a bill that extends the coverage but gradually reduces the ceiling on federal and state benefits combined from 99 weeks to 59 weeks by mid-2012…”

Child Care Subsidies

townsend — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:06:54 +0000

Aid for child care drops when it is needed most, By Sabrina Tavernise, December 13, 2011, New York Times: “With states under pressure to cut their budgets and federal stimulus money gone, low-income working parents are facing a paradox. Just when they have to work longer hours to make ends meet, they are losing access to the thing they need most to stay on the job: a government subsidy that helps pay for child care. The subsidy, a mix of federal and state funds that reimburses child care providers on behalf of families, is critical to the lives of poor women. But it has been eaten away over the years by inflation and growing need and recently by state budget cuts, leaving parents struggling to find other arrangements to stay employed…”

Joblessness and Unemployment

townsend — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:55:16 +0000

Dave Camp: Bill would reduce federal unemployment benefits, crackdown on welfare fraud and abuse, and create jobs, By Barrie Barber, December 12, 2011, Saginaw News: “U.S. Rep. Dave Camp has introduced broad legislation to reduce the maximum number of weeks of federal unemployment compensation, extend a payroll tax holiday, reform some Medicare provisions and extend a welfare program set to expire at the end of the year. Camp, R-Midland, said the provisions, among other changes, would encourage employers to hire new employees, and crackdown on fraud and abuse in welfare and tax credit programs…”
Unemployment benefits remain hot topic in Michigan, By Tim Martin (AP), Detroit Free Press: “In Michigan, where the unemployment rate has soared above the national average for years, any proposal with the potential to affect jobless benefits stirs emotions at the state Capitol. That’s certainly the case with Republican-sponsored legislation recently approved by the Senate and awaiting a vote in the House. The bills would help stabilize Michigan’s sagging unemployment trust fund, which because of the high jobless rate has shelled out more money in benefits than it has collected in payments from employers financing the system. Michigan has borrowed money from the federal government to help make jobless benefit payments, racking up a $3 billion debt…”
Unemployment benefits on the chopping block in D.C., By Daniel Malloy and Dan Chapman, December 12, 2011, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Laid off from her temp job in Virginia last March, Lynette Green moved with her two kids to Atlanta in June in search of a job. She ran through her state unemployment payments and got a federal extension. ‘The benefits are very important; they help me pay my bills,’ said Green, 32, who lives in Atlanta’s West End and finally found work three weeks ago. ‘I used the money mainly for my kids, for their transportation and clothing when they started school.’ Extended federal unemployment benefits, which can last up to 73 weeks, expire Dec. 31. The U.S. House will vote Tuesday on continuing to pay the benefits through January 2013. Supporters of the extension say it’s needed in the toughest job market in generations. Those who want to reduce the benefits, mainly Republicans, say payments that can run nearly two years are disincentives to work…”
The state of the long-term unemployed, By John Ydstie, December 12, 2011, National Public Radio: “Millions of Americans wake up each morning without a job, even though they desperately want to work. It’s one of the depressing legacies of the financial crisis and Great Recession. NPR and the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a poll of people who had been unemployed or with an insufficient level of work for more than a year. The results document the financial, emotional and physical effects of long-term unemployment and underemployment. The federal government currently counts 5.7 million Americans as long-term unemployed, which it defines as people out of work for 27 weeks or more. The NPR/Kaiser poll used a slightly different measure, surveying people out of work for a year or more…”

Economic Mobility in the US

townsend — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:44:35 +0000

Economic mobility has fallen, study says, By Walter Hamilton, December 1, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “There’s nothing more American than going from rags to riches. Or so the image goes. The reality, according to a recent study, is far less rosy. The ability to go from poor to rich - or at least to climb out of poverty - has become much harder to do in the last three decades, according to an analysis by Wells Fargo Securities. The percentage of low-income people who moved up the economic ladder slowed sharply from 1980 to 2009, compared with the previous dozen years, the study found. The drop in economic mobility, combined with recently declining government aid to the poor, has left many Americans with no way to dig themselves out of poverty…”

San Francisco Minimum Wage

townsend — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:23:29 +0000

SF becomes first US city to top $10 minimum wage, By Beth Duff-Brown (AP), December 12, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle: “David Frias works two minimum-wage jobs to squeak by in one of the most expensive cities in America. Come New Year’s Day, he’ll have a few more coins in his pocket as San Francisco makes history by becoming the first city in the nation to scale a $10 minimum wage. The city’s hourly wage for its lowest-paid workers will hit $10.24, more than $2 above the California minimum wage and nearly $3 more than the working wage set by the federal government. It won’t put much more in Frias’ wallet. But it gives him a sense of moving on up…”

Jobless Benefit Claims

townsend — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:41:17 +0000

Unemployment benefit applications fall to 9-month low, latest sign of improving job market, Associated Press, December 8, 2011, Washington Post: “A steady decline in the number of people applying for weekly unemployment benefits is the latest signal that the economy has strengthened and businesses may be poised to step up hiring. Applications fell last week fell to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the lowest level since late February. And a four-week average for applications, which smooths week-to-week fluctuations, fell for the ninth time in 11 weeks to an eight-month low. The downward trend in unemployment benefit applications bolsters the view that the economy has improved from its spring slump, when many feared another recession was likely. Consumer confidence is up, retailers reported a strong start to the holiday shopping season and the unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest point in two and a half years…”

Extension of Jobless Benefits

townsend — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:01:49 +0000

160,000 jobless Michiganders at risk of losing safety net, By Katharine Yung, December 5, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Unless Congress acts to continue extended unemployment benefits, it could be a grim holiday season for nearly 160,000 Michiganders. An end to the extended benefits would immediately impact 61,000 state residents who are getting this federal aid after exhausting their 26 weeks of state-funded assistance. Another 98,743 people who are receiving state benefits would no longer get additional help if they are still jobless after 26 weeks…”
Jobless benefits a holiday uncertainty, By Catharine Candisky, December 4, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “For the second year in a row, thousands of unemployed Ohioans face the holidays uncertain about whether their jobless benefits will continue into the new year. Nearly 77,000 jobless Ohioans - more than a quarter of whom rely on unemployment to pay their mortgages, utility bills and grocery bills - will exhaust benefits in early January unless Congress agrees to fund another extension of federal assistance. By early April, 107,000 more workers would fall off the rolls, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said…”
Clock ticking on Mainers’ unemployment benefits, By Susan McMillan, December 4, 2011, Morning Sentinel: “Maine is bracing for a new wave of need as extended federal unemployment benefits near their end. If Congress does not reauthorize extended benefits, 17,000 Mainers will see their benefits run out by May, Department of Labor spokesman Adam Fisher said. The department and its 12 regional Career Centers will increase outreach to unemployment claimants and add workshops to help the long-term unemployed find work…”

Joblessness and Unemployment

townsend — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 23:01:46 +0000

For jobless, little hope of restoring better days, By Motoko Rich, December 1, 2011, New York Times: “People across the working spectrum suffered job losses in recent years: bricklayers and bookkeepers as well as workers in manufacturing and marketing. But only a select few workers have fully regained their footing during the slow recovery…”
U.S. unemployment rate falls to 8.6% in November, raising hopes for growth, By Neil Irwin, Washington Post: “The unemployment rate plummeted to its lowest level in more than two years in November, as employers hired at a steady clip, according to new report that offers hope for the job market entering the holiday season. The jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent last month, from 9 percent in October, the lowest level since the economic free-fall of March 2009, the Labor Department reported Friday morning. But the improvement in the job market was not quite as strong as that drop would suggest: About half the decline was attributed to people dropping out of the labor force, no longer counting themselves as even looking for work…”
Signs of hope in jobs report; unemployment drops to 8.6%, By Catherine Rampell, December 2, 2011, New York Times: “Somehow the American economy appears to be getting better, even as the rest of the world is looking worse. In the midst of the European debt crisis, lingering instability in the oil-rich Middle East and concerns about a Chinese economic slowdown, the American unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped last month to 8.6 percent, its lowest level in two and a half years. The nation’s employers modestly increased their hiring, too, the Labor Department said Friday. The figures come just a few months after economists were warning that the economy’s prospects were waning…”

Economic Security Index

townsend — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:01:55 +0000

More than 1 in 5 Americans are economically insecure, By Tami Luhby, November 28, 2011, CNNMoney.com: “More than one in five Americans saw at least a quarter of their available household income vanish in the Great Recession, yet lacked a sufficient financial cushion, according to a report released Monday. The situation has left them economically insecure, according to the report, which updates an Economic Security Index created by Jacob Hacker, a political science professor at Yale. More than 20% of the nation was in this condition in the three years spanning 2008 to 2010, a sharp increase from 14.3% in 1986. Some 62 million Americans faced economic insecurity last year. The Great Recession is also prompting deep losses among the insecure, with the median drop in income for this group hitting a record 46.4% in 2009…”

State Earned Income Tax Credits

townsend — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:52:25 +0000

Malloy touts new tax credit, By JC Reindl, November 23, 2011, The Day: “Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday joined Democratic lawmakers and social services advocates to herald the implementation of Connecticut’s new Earned Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. The credit was included in the governor’s biennial budget plan that passed the General Assembly this spring. The cost to the state is a projected $110 million this fiscal year. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia now offer some type of earned income tax credit. Under Connecticut’s program, the approximately 190,000 state households that are eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit will receive an additional credit equal to 30 percent of the federal one…”
Taxing the working poor back to starting line, Editorial, November 20, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “As much as younger pensioners may howl about the state income taxes they’ll have to pay come Jan. 1, the hardest hit group of people who file income tax forms may be the poorest — workers whose wages barely bring their families up to the poverty level. That’s because the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit will drop from 20% of the federal payment to 6%. Although this is better than nothing — which, in fact, was what Michigan had until three years ago — it will return the state to the unwelcome status of taxing some people back into poverty…”

State Unemployment Insurance Debt

townsend — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:55:43 +0000

Businesses penalized for state unemployment insurance debt, By Pamela M. Prah, November 18, 2011, Stateline.org: “Employers in 20 states will have to shell out more in taxes next year as a penalty for the states not paying back federal loans that kept unemployment programs afloat during the recession. Altogether, states still owe $37.6 billion to the feds that they borrowed when their unemployment insurance trust funds sank to zero. Most states have dealt with the problem by raising state payroll taxes on employers, making benefits to workers less generous; or a combination of the two. A handful, though, have opted to issue bonds. Idaho did it earlier this year, and Texas did it last year. And just this month, Illinois lawmakers approved legislation allowing the state to issue bonds to pay back the $2 billion the state owes the federal government for unemployment relief. Governor Pat Quinn has applauded the UI package and has indicated he will sign the measure. The state figures it will get an interest rate lower than the 4 percent it would have to pay the federal government, saving the state and businesses millions of dollars…”

Unemployment Benefits - Delaware, Iowa

townsend — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:05:52 +0000

Jobless-benefit checks phased out, By Chad Livengood, November 15, 2011, News Journal: “Paper unemployment insurance checks will be virtually nonexistent in Delaware by mid-2012. The Delaware Department of Labor plans to do away with almost all paper checks by June, when it begins issuing debit cards to jobless workers who don’t choose to receive their unemployment benefits via a direct deposit into their bank accounts. ‘As far as the paper check, it’s going to go the way of the dinosaur,’ said Tom MacPherson, director of the division of unemployment insurance. There may still be some paper checks issued to people claiming unemployment benefits for the first time, MacPherson said, but only until a direct deposit can be activated with their bank…”
Branstad praises results of closing 36 unemployment offices, By Jason Clayworth, November 14, 2011, Des Moines Register: “Gov. Terry Branstad’s decision that’s being challenged as unconstitutional to close 36 Iowa unemployment offices was praised today by himself and his administration as ‘a significant success.’ ‘Our tracking data indicates that services are equal to or greater than what they were available at this time last year. I see this as a significant success and commend Director (Teresa) Wahlert and Iowa Workforce Development for their good work,’ Branstad said. Branstad in July vetoed portions of Senate File 517 that would have prohibited closure of the 36 Iowa Workforce Development offices across the state. Branstad wrote in his veto letter that the legislation would have prevented the department from putting together a more efficient system for assisting unemployed Iowans…”

Unemployment and Jobless Benefits

townsend — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:33:43 +0000

Most of America’s unemployed no long receiving benefits, By Christopher S. Rugaber (AP), November 5, 2011, Denver Post: “The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America’s unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits. Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent - a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of America’s 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more. Congress is expected to decide by year’s end whether to continue providing emergency unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. If the emergency benefits expire, the proportion of the unemployed receiving aid would fall further. The ranks of the poor would also rise. The Census Bureau says unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million people from slipping into poverty last year. It defines poverty as annual income below $22,314 for a family of four. Yet for a growing share of the unemployed, a vote in Congress to extend the benefits to 99 weeks is irrelevant. They’ve had no job for more than 99 weeks. They’re no longer eligible for benefits…”
Thousands of Oregon jobless will lose unemployment insurance if Congress doesn’t renew federal benefits, By Richard Read, November 3, 2011, The Oregonian: “Thousands of Oregonians will lose their unemployment benefits early next year if Congress doesn’t extend emergency coverage, state projections show. Now, about 2,000 Oregonians a month exhaust their jobless benefits, having failed to find work after as long as 99 weeks. But that number would jump to 13,400 in January and 12,500 in February, according to the projections by the Oregon Employment Department. Democrats in the U.S. House introduced a bill Thursday to extend the federally funded benefits another year, and Congress has never failed to pass an extension when unemployment rates were this high. But the measure — with a $45 billion price tag, plus a potential $7 billion to help states extend benefits — is not certain to pass given heavy public pressure to cut federal spending…”
Oregon unemployed allowed to keep jobless benefits paid by mistake, By Richard Read, November 8, 2011, The Oregonian: “More than 600 Oregonians who received unemployment payments in error can keep the money — which totals $615,000 so far — under a state law passed this year. In each case, the Oregon Employment Department determined that recovering the overpayments from people enduring financial hardships would violate equity and good conscience. The total amount forgiven will increase under the system as more people request and receive repayment waivers. The money comes from a state jobless-benefits trust fund financed by employers, not taxpayers…”
New jobless claims decline to lowest level since April, Reuters, November 10, 2011, New York Times: “New claims for jobless benefits in the United States fell last week to their lowest level since early April and the country’s trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in September, pointing to a slight improvement in the sluggish economy. The Labor Department said on Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell for the second consecutive week, dropping 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 390,000. That is still well above levels from before the 2007-9 recession, but economists say a level below 400,000 could prompt some acceleration in hiring…”

LA Times Series on Buy Here Pay Here Car Dealerships

townsend — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:23:10 +0000

A vicious cycle in the used-car business, By Ken Bensinger, October 30, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn’t find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered. Lee figured she had no choice. She put $3,000 down and drove off in a 2007 Ford Fusion, agreeing to pay $387 a month for four years. The interest rate: 20.7%, nearly triple the national average for a used-car loan…”
Investors place big bets on Buy Here Pay Here used-car dealers, By Ken Bensinger, November 1, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “The J.D. Byrider used-car dealership in Visalia, Calif., sits amid a jumble of tow yards, hubcap vendors and vacant lots littered with empty beer cans. It may not look like much, but selling aging cars to waitresses, secretaries and farmworkers is a lucrative business. That’s why private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners of Palo Alto bought the J.D. Byrider chain in May for a reported $50 million. Altamont’s offices, on the 10th floor of a luxury office tower overlooking Stanford University, are 200 miles and a world away from the Visalia lot. On a recent morning, a dozen executives could be seen huddled in a glass-walled conference room, reviewing a slide presentation on plans to buy some franchised Byrider lots. It’s part of a strategy to boost profit at the 135-lot chain, which had sales of $740 million last year…”
A hard road for the poor in need of cars, By Ken Bensinger, November 3, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “No car, no work. That’s the conclusion Lisa Twombly reached as she fought to hang on to her job as a caretaker for an elderly San Diego couple. Taking the bus and bumming rides from friends wasn’t cutting it, and she was repeatedly late for work. Told she’d be fired if it happened again, Twombly put down $4,000 - all her savings - on a 9-year-old Chrysler Sebring with 95,000 miles. The dealership lent her the $2,600 balance at a steep 18% interest rate. A few months later, the Sebring broke down and she got into a dispute with the dealer over who should pay for repairs. Twombly quit making loan payments, and Dig’s Wheels of Escondido, Calif., repossessed the car. She again struggled to get to work on time and was fired. That set off a chain of events that left the 38-year-old single mother and her two children homeless for six weeks. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’ said Twombly, who is still out of work. ‘I lost my job because I lost my car.’ For more than a century, efforts to help the disadvantaged have focused on education, healthcare, nutrition and housing. Almost nothing has been done to help the working poor afford cars, despite research that indicates it would help alleviate poverty…”

October 2011 US Unemployment

townsend — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:09:16 +0000

Report shows gain in jobs but growth still sluggish, By Catherine Rampell, November 4, 2011, New York Times: “The United States economy created a modest number of jobs in October, the Labor Department reported Friday. Employers added 80,000 payroll positions on net, slightly less than what economists had expected. That compares to 158,000 jobs in September, a month when the figure was helped by the return of 45,000 Verizon workers who had been on strike. Friday’s report also showed that job growth in September and August was significantly stronger than the Labor Department initially believed it was, giving economists hope that October’s employment growth may have been better than this first estimate suggests, too…”
Economy adds 80K jobs in Oct.; unemployment dips to 9%, By Neil Irwin, November 4, 2011, Washington Post: “The U.S. economy kept muddling along in October, according to new government data, as employers continued to hire at a sluggish pace and the unemployment rate fell slightly to its lowest rate since April. The jobless rate fell to 9 percent in October from 9.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday morning, with more people reporting that they had a job in a survey of households. Employers created 80,000 net new jobs last month…”

Unemployment Benefits Payments - Oregon

townsend — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:25:39 +0000

Oregon overpays $392 million in unemployment benefits, fraud investigators swamped, By Richard Read, October 28, 2011, The Oregonian: “As unemployment insurance claims ballooned during the past few years, Oregon overpaid more than $392 million in benefits, a U.S. Labor Department analysis shows. That’s about 12 percent of almost $3.5 billion paid in benefits during the three years that ended in June. Some of the money went out the door innocently enough, paid before the Oregon Employment Department determined a recipient was ineligible for benefits. But other checks went to people who fraudulently collected unemployment without looking for work, or who found a job and continued claiming benefits. Either way, Oregon officials aim to recover the money, which originates from employers, not individual taxpayers. But they say fraud cases have swamped the Employment Department, where caseloads at one point reached 400 per investigator, up from 150 before the recession…”

Poll of Jobless Americans

townsend — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:52:10 +0000

Facing hardship, jobless still say they have hope, By Michael Cooper and Allison Kopicki, October 26, 2011, New York Times: “The nation’s lingering unemployment crisis has forced many people without work to dip into their savings, borrow from relatives and do without necessities including health insurance, and most people who receive unemployment benefits said that the money was not enough to meet their basic needs, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll of jobless Americans. Still, despite enduring hardships and being even more pessimistic about the nation’s economy than the general public, unemployed Americans remained optimistic about eventually landing jobs. A little more than half of those polled said they were either very or somewhat confident they would find long-term employment in the next year, and a majority said they expected that when they did find permanent work, it would be at a similar or higher salary than they had received in the past. But the poll found deep unease about unemployment benefits…”

Income Inequality in the US

townsend — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:39:19 +0000

Utah has nation’s lowest ‘income inequality’, By Lee Davidson, October 26, 2011, Salt Lake Tribune: “More than any other Americans, Utahns live among neighbors whose incomes are similar to their own. The rich live with the rich, and the poor with the poor. But the overall range of Utahns’ household incomes is relatively narrow, too, with comparatively few who are exceptionally high- or low-income. That’s according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau looking at ‘neighborhood income inequality’ between 2005 and 2009…”
Income inequality lower than average in NW, says Census report, By Jessica Robinson, October 26, 2011, Oregon Public Broadcasting: “New numbers show the gap between the rich and poor has grown across the nation. But income inequality in the Northwest is lower than the national level. That’s according to an analysis released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Correspondent Jessica Robinson has more. The report is based on survey data collected between 2005 and 2009 — three years of economic growth, plus two years of recession. It uses three different measurements. And in all of them, Oregon, Idaho and Washington have lower-than-average levels of income inequality. That is, the spread between high wage earners and low wage earners…”
Top earners doubled share of nation’s income, study finds, By Robert Pear, October 25, 2011, New York Times: “The top 1 percent of earners more than doubled their share of the nation’s income over the last three decades, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, in a new report likely to figure prominently in the escalating political fight over how to revive the economy, create jobs and lower the federal debt. In addition, the report said, government policy has become less redistributive since the late 1970s, doing less to reduce the concentration of income…”
The rich are getting richer, U.S. study says, By Jim Puzzanghera, October 27, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “The rich got richer over the last three decades - and the very rich got very much richer - according to a new government study. The top 1% of households saw their after-tax incomes grow by 275% from 1979 to 2007, said the study by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That was more than quadruple the growth of the rest of the top 20% of the population during that period. Meanwhile, income for the 60% of households that make up the middle of the income scale increased by slightly less than 40%, the study found. The poor - the 20% of the population with the lowest incomes - saw just an 18% increase…”

Military Veterans and Unemployment

townsend — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:47:12 +0000

Veterans’ unemployment outpaces civilian rate, By Michael A. Fletcher, October 16, 2011, Washington Post: “As soon as Brian Joseph graduated from high school he joined the Army, where he was trained in a series of jobs that seem to exist only in the military. He was a multi-channel radio operator. Then he worked as a single-channel radio operator. Later, he worked as a psychological operations specialist, tailoring the U.S. war message to residents of Kosovo and, later, Iraq. But since leaving the Army in 2008, Joseph has found that the rigorous training he gained during 18 years of military service means little to civilian employers…”

State Minimum Wages

townsend — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:22:29 +0000

State minimum wage rates to go up with inflation in 2012, By Pamela M. Prah, October 14, 2011, Stateline.org: “Increases in the minimum wage often involve protracted political battles, but no so for 10 states that will increase their rates in 2012. That’s because these states tie annual increases in their minimums to increases in the cost of living. The minimum wage will increase by 28 cents next year in Colorado; 30 cents in Montana, Ohio and Oregon; and 37 cents in Washington State. Other states that have laws requiring their minimum wages be adjusted annually are Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nevada and Vermont. Announcements regarding rate increases in those states are still to come. Nationwide, 18 states and Washington, D.C. have minimum wage rates that are higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25, according to U.S. Labor Department data. Washington State has the highest hourly rate at $8.67, which will go to $9.04 next year when the new rate goes into effect…”

Extension of Jobless Benefits

townsend — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:54:42 +0000

Millions to lose unemployment benefits if Congress doesn’t act, By Tami Luhby, October 11, 2011, CNNMoney.com: “Millions of unemployed Americans are waiting for Congress to do something other than trade barbs over their job creation plans. If lawmakers don’t act soon, the jobless see their unemployment checks start to disappear come January. More than 6 million Americans are set to lose federal unemployment benefits in 2012, with 1.8 million running out in January alone, according to new figures from the National Employment Law Project. President Obama’s $447 billion American Jobs Act would extend the deadline to file for federal unemployment benefits for another year. Though the Senate is expected to take up the controversial jobs bill on Tuesday, it’s unlikely to get very far…”

Long-Term Unemployment

townsend — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:32:16 +0000

Unemployed seek protection against job bias, By Sam Hananel (AP), October 9, 2011, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “After two years on the unemployment rolls, Selena Forte thought she’d found a temporary job at a delivery company that matched her qualifications. But Forte, a 55-year-old from Cleveland, says a recruiter for an employment agency told her she would not be considered for the job because she had been out of work too long. She had lost her job driving a bus. ‘They didn’t even want to hear about my experience,’ said Forte. ‘It didn’t make sense. You’re always told just go out there and get a job.’ Forte, scraping by now as a part time substitute school bus driver, is part of a growing number of unemployed or underemployed Americans who complain they are being screened out of job openings for the very reason they’re looking for work in the first place. Some companies and job agencies prefer applicants who already have jobs, or haven’t been jobless too long…”

Joblessness and Unemployment

townsend — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:43:21 +0000

Some unemployed find fault in extension of jobless benefits, By Shaila Dewan, October 6, 2011, New York Times: “Dan Tolleson, a researcher and writer with a Ph.D. in politics, has been out of work since 2009, except for brief stints as a driver. Still, he opposes President Obama’s call for Congress to renew extensions on unemployment benefits. ‘They’re going to end up spending more money on unemployment benefits, while less money is coming in on tax returns,’ he said, suggesting that the government should focus on measures that might encourage businesses to hire. ‘Far better to relax some of these outrageous regulations.’ Make no mistake - Mr. Tolleson, 54, has collected unemployment checks, saying he had little choice. But his objection to a policy that would probably benefit him shows just how divisive the question has become of providing a bigger safety net to the long-term jobless, a common strategy in recessions…”
Long-Term joblessness likely to spur unemployment extension fight, By Sara Murray, October 7, 2011, Wall Street Journal: “One of the most persistent hangovers from this prolonged downturn will likely be the nation’s crop of long-term unemployed. The number of Americans out of work for more than six months rose by 208,000 to 6.2 million in September, the Labor Department said. Some 44.6% of all of those who are unemployed have been sidelined for at least six months. Most of those individuals - nearly 4.4 million - have been out of work for a least a year. Long-term unemployment has been more pervasive during this recession and anemic recovery than any other point in history, according to records dating back to the 1940s…”
Adding jobs, but not many, U.S. economy seems to idle, By Motoko Rich, October 7, 2011, New York Times: “As an increasing number of economists warned of a possible dip back into recession, the Labor Department said Friday that American employers added 103,000 net new jobs in September, indicating that the economy is at least not weakening for now. The government also revised its estimates upward for the previous two months, suggesting that job growth in July and August had been better than originally reported. Although the numbers staved off the bleakest forecasts for now, the Labor Department’s monthly snapshot highlighted the challenges for President Obama as he continues to press a balky Congress to pass his jobs bill…”
Businesses add jobs, but unemployment rate unchanged in September, By Don Lee, October 7, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Hiring picked up moderately in September as employers added 103,000 jobs, the government said Friday, easing fears among economists that the nation was hurtling toward another recession. But the job growth wasn’t strong enough to lower the unemployment rate, which remained stuck at 9.1% for the third straight month. Analysts say about 125,000 net new jobs are needed every month to keep pace with the population growth and maintain the current jobless rate. While construction employment rebounded and retailers hired more workers last month, manufacturing payrolls shrank again and government continued its sharp cutbacks. Also, the number of part-time workers who want full-time hours rose sharply over the month, to 9.3 million, from 8.8 million in August. Including these workers and others who have quit looking because they don’t see hope of getting hired, the share of unemployed and underemployed among the U.S. workforce rose to 16.5% in September, up from 16.2% in the prior month and 15.8% in May…”

Joblessness and Unemployment

townsend — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:43:33 +0000

Unemployment benefits applications fall but joblessness remains high, By Christopher S. Rugaber and Martin Crutsinger (AP), September 30, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “The economy is showing signs of modest improvement - not enough to reduce highunemployment but enough to ease fears that another recession might be near. Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, though some of that was due to technical factors. And the economy grew slightly more in the April-June quarter than previously estimated. Growth is also expected to tick up in coming months…”

Joblessness and Unemployment

townsend — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:08:28 +0000

Unemployment rates fell in two-thirds of US cities last month, despite slowdown in hiring, Associated Press, September 28, 2011, Washington Post: “Unemployment rates fell in roughly two-thirds of U.S. cities last month, despite zero job growth nationwide. The Labor Department said Wednesday that unemployment rates dropped in 237 of the nation’s largest metro areas in August from July. They rose in 103 and stayed the same in 32. That’s an improvement from July, when rates fell in 193 areas and rose in 118. Some areas with large agricultural sectors added jobs to coincide with the start of the harvest. Auto companies boosted hiring in several other cities…”
Georgia could cut jobless benefits to repay feds, By Dan Chapman, September 27, 2011, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Georgia borrowed $721 million from Washington to help the unemployed survive the lousy economy and now, as the bills come due, it may repay the debt by cutting back on jobless benefits. The state Labor Department will send a $21.4 million check to Washington this week, the first payment on debt run up since late 2009. Labor Commissioner Mark Butler is weighing a slew of repayment options, but strongly hinted he favors cutting benefits — both the weekly amount and the number of weeks of eligibility…”

Recession and Unemployment

townsend — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:39:52 +0000

Slump alters Jobless map in U.S., with South hit hard, By Michael Cooper, September 26, 2011, New York Times: “When the unemployment rate rose in most states last month, it underscored the extent to which the deep recession, the anemic recovery and the lingering crisis of joblessness are beginning to reshape the nation’s economic map. The once-booming South, which entered the recession with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, is now struggling with some of the highest rates, recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show. Several Southern states - including South Carolina, whose 11.1 percent unemployment rate is the fourth highest in the nation - have higher unemployment rates than they did a year ago. Unemployment in the South is now higher than it is in the Northeast and the Midwest, which include Rust Belt states that were struggling even before the recession…”
African-American unemployment reaches record highs, By Leslie Kwoh, September 26, 2011, Star-Ledger: “Jeanette Grimes doesn’t need to look at the latest data to know black unemployment has reached record highs. She sees the growing joblessness all around her - on the streets of Trenton, at networking meetings, in her local unemployment office. And she’s felt the pain first-hand, too, as an African-American who was laid off nearly two years ago from her job as a nonprofit organizer. Grimes has since struggled to land work, agonizing as the rejection pile has grown while her savings have dwindled. ‘It’s been pretty rough,’ said Grimes, 48, of Trenton. ‘You become hopeful and think, ‘This job is exactly what I have experience in’ - and then you get a letter saying they hired another candidate.’ While high unemployment is affecting all sectors of the population in this tough economy, African-Americans are by far the hardest-hit demographic. Nationally, black unemployment reached 16.7 percent last month - the highest level since 1984 - even as the jobless rate for whites fell to 8 percent, according to the U.S. Labor Department…”

Unemployment and Jobless Benefits

townsend — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:43:27 +0000

Unemployment rate rises in most states in August, By Derek Kravitz (AP), September 16, 2011, USA Today: “Unemployment rates rose in most states in August for a third straight month, further proof that job growth is weak nationwide. The Labor Department says unemployment rates increased in 26 states. They fell in 12 and remained unchanged in 12. Nevada had the nation’s highest unemployment rate among states at 13.4%. That is up from 12.9% in July. North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate, at 3.5%. That’s up from 3.3% in July. Nationwide, hiring fell significantly in August. The economy added no new net jobs, and the unemployment rate stayed at 9.1% for a second month…”
California unemployment rate hits 12.1% as employers slash jobs, By Alana Semuels, September 16, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Unsettled by signs that the recovery is stumbling, California employers in August cut jobs for the second month in a row, helping push the unemployment rate to 12.1% from 12% in July. Payrolls fell by 8,400 positions last month, according to figures released Friday by the Employment Development Department. The losses are worrying to economists, who say turmoil at the state and national levels could continue through the fall. The country added no jobs in August. The national unemployment rate stands at 9.1%…”
Unemployment benefits extensions have small impact on jobless rate, By Sara Murray, September 16, 2011, Wall Street Journal: “Generous unemployment benefits have had little effect on the unemployment rate, according to a new study that may help ease concerns that benefits give sidelined Americans a disincentive to hunt for jobs. Unemployment insurance, which is available for up to 99 weeks in some states, nudged the jobless rate up 0.2 to 0.6 of a percentage point higher than it would have been otherwise, according to a new paper by Jesse Rothstein, a University of California, Berkeley economist and released at the Brookings Institution this week…”
Billions in unemployment benefits paid in error, By Sara Murray, September 14, 2011, Wall Street Journal: “Nearly $19 billion in state unemployment benefits were paid in error during the three years that ended in June, new Labor Department data show. The amount represents more than 10% of the $180 billion in jobless benefits paid nationwide during the period. (See a sortable chart of each states’ overpayments) The tally covers state programs, which offer benefits for up to 26 weeks, from July 2008 to June 2011. Layers of federal programs that help provide benefits for up to 99 weeks weren’t included…”

State Minimum Wage - Oregon

townsend — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:34:47 +0000

Minimum wage to rise, By Ilene Aleshire, September 16, 2011, Eugene Register-Guard: “Oregon’s minimum wage will go up 30 cents per hour, to $8.80, next year, state Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian announced Thursday. The increase mirrors a 3.77 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index since August 2010, Avakian said. ‘Safeguarding the wages of low-income workers is especially critical in a tough economy,’ Avakian said in a statement. ‘Oregon’s economy will not rebound if we allow 144,538 minimum wage earners to fall behind inflation.’ Oregon’s current minimum wage is the second-highest among all 50 states, behind only to Washington state’s $8.67, according to the nonpartisan Oregon Center for Public Policy. Washington will announce its 2012 minimum wage on Sept. 30, Avakian said…”

Child Care Costs - Britain

townsend — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:50:38 +0000

Childcare costs force poorest families into debt, September 7, 2001, The Guardian: “Britain’s poorest families are getting into debt because of the high cost of childcare, while a third are turning down jobs and 40% are considering leaving work because they cannot afford to pay for someone to look after their children, according to research. Parents spend almost a third of their incomes on childcare - more than anywhere else in the world, according to a study by Save the Children and the Daycare Trust. For four out of 10 families the cost of childcare is on a par with mortgage or rent payments, the study showed. Of those families in severe poverty, nearly half have cut back on food to afford childcare and 58% said they were, or would be, no better off working once childcare was paid for. The research found that parents, regardless of income, cannot afford not to work but struggle to pay for childcare, and despite many parents cutting back their spending almost a quarter are in debt because of childcare costs…”
Childcare costs put parents in debt, survey concludes, September 6, 2011, BBC News: “Nearly a quarter of UK parents questioned in a survey by the Daycare Trust and Save the Children say the cost of childcare has put them in debt. The survey of 4,359 parents found 58% had cut spending on other essentials like clothing, heating and other bills. Nearly two-thirds said they could not afford not to work, but struggled to pay for childcare. Four out of 10 families surveyed said the cost of childcare was on a par with their mortgage or rent. The study suggests the cost of childcare has the greatest consequences for the poorest families…”

US Poverty Rate

townsend — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:32:30 +0000

As economy remains weak, working-age adults make up record share of Americans in poverty, Associated Press, September 6, 2011, Washington Post: “Working-age America is the new face of poverty. Counting adults 18-64 who were laid off in the recent recession as well as single twenty-somethings still looking for jobs, the new working-age poor represent nearly 3 out of 5 poor people - a switch from the early 1970s when children made up the main impoverished group. While much of the shift in poverty is due to demographic changes - Americans are having fewer children than before - the now-weakened economy and limited government safety net for workers are heightening the effect. Currently, the ranks of the working-age poor are at the highest level since the 1960s when the war on poverty was launched. When new census figures for 2010 are released next week, analysts expect a continued increase in the overall poverty rate due to persistently high unemployment last year. If that holds true, it will mark the fourth year in a row of increases in the U.S. poverty rate, which now stands at 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people…”

Long-Term Unemployment

townsend — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:28:55 +0000

Many feel repercussions of long-term unemployment, By Katherine Yung, September 5, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “Almost 2 1/2 years after losing his job as an inventory technician, all Mark Baerlin has to show for his lengthy job search are notebooks filled with information about the 343 jobs for which he applied. So far this year, the Dearborn resident has gotten five interviews. None of them panned out. In early July, Baerlin exhausted all 99 weeks of his unemployment benefits. He has been saving every penny he can, canceling doctor appointments and using as little water, lighting, air-conditioning and gasoline as possible. If the 51-year-old doesn’t find a job soon, he could lose his house. ‘I’m living on my savings, and that’s not going to last very long,’ he said. Welcome to the world of the long-term unemployed, who face a 20 percent drop in earnings over the next two decades, loss of retirement savings, isolation, increased risk for depression and even reduced life expectancy. Twenty-seven months after the official end of the recession, long-term unemployment remains at crisis levels, with 6 million Americans out of work for more than half a year, including 235,000 in Michigan…”
Deadline looms for millions of unemployed Floridians, By Kevin Wiatrowski, September 6, 2011, Tampa Tribune: “When President Barack Obama addresses Congress this week about jobs, he’ll have Ellen Turner’s attention. The New Port Richey resident lost her job as a graphic designer in December 2008. When her unemployment benefits ran out in mid-2010, Turner joined the ranks of a club no one wants to belong to: the 99ers. Taking their name from the 99-week limit on state and federal unemployment benefits, 99ers made up about 14 percent of the 14.4 million people who were jobless at the end of July, the most recent month for which figures are available, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The recession may have officially ended last year, but for Turner and millions of others the dark economic cloud has yet to lift. They rely on unemployment checks, food stamps, Medicaid and other government programs — programs that are being cut or retooled by state and national leaders…”