[Vision2020] Fwd: December Unemployment Rate Soars to 6.6 Percent

Fri Jan 9 23:40:18 PST 2009

It is actually worse if you consider what they Government considers employed and not employed, as it fixes the unemployment rate much lower than it really is. 

If you worked at all in the previous week, even for a dollar, or did more than 15 hours of unpaid work for the family business, or if you took a couple weeks off from looking for work, or don't have enough money to look for work, you are not considered unemployed by the Government and included in that 6.6%.  

Definitions of unemployed are different before the mid 80s as they are today because of the measuring stick they use, or definition, of unemployment. 

"Employed persons consist of:

All persons who did any work for pay or profit during the survey week.

All persons who did at least 15 hours of unpaid work in a family-operated enterprise.

All persons who were temporarily absent from their regular jobs because of illness, vacation, bad weather, industrial dispute, or various personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off.

Unemployed persons are: 
All persons who did not have a job at all during the survey week, made specific active efforts to find a job during the prior 4 weeks, and were available for work (unless temporarily ill).

All persons who were not working and were waiting to be called back to a job from which they had been laid off need not be looking for work to be classified as unemployed."

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm

Try to sleep at night.

Best Regards,

Donovan

--- On Fri, 1/9/09, Tom Trail <ttrail at moscow.com> wrote:

From: Tom Trail <ttrail at moscow.com>
Subject: [Vision2020] Fwd: FW: December Unemployment Rate Soars to 6.6 Percent
To: vision2020 at mail-gw.fsr.net
Date: Friday, January 9, 2009, 11:13 AM

Constituents:  The dramatic increase in the Idaho unemployment rate

is not good news.  This is an update on the situation from Roger Madsen,
Director of the Idaho Department of Labor.

Rep. Tom Trail

Because of the dramatic increase in December unemployment, Director Roger B. Madsen wanted to make sure you had a copy of this information.

Editors, News Directors: Also attached are charts with county-by-county monthly and annual rates and the statewide statistics by month for 2007 and 2008.

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Jan 9, 2008                                                                                                                              
Information Contact: Bob Fick (208) 332-3570 ext. 3628 or Georgia Smith (208) 841-5509

December Unemployment Rate Soars to 6.6 Percent
-Average Rate for 2008 Jumps to 4.2 Percent-

Over 12,000 jobs vanished from Idaho's economy in December, driving the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate up nine-tenths of a point from November to 6.6 percent.

More than 50,000 workers were without jobs, more than double a year earlier, as the unemployment rate hit its highest level in over 20 years and Idaho's economic turmoil approached the severity of the early 1980s. The rate was only 2.7 percent in December 2007.

The deepening recession was felt throughout the state, hitting every sector of Idaho's economy including government. The state paid out a record $33 million in regular and extended jobless benefits during December and an unprecedented $22 million during the first two weeks of January.

Total employment fell another 7,200 to just over 710,000, down almost 27,000 from December 2007 and the fewest people at work in Idaho since January 2006. At 3.6 percent, it was the largest year-over-year employment decline on record.

December's huge job loss - the deepest December job loss since 1979 - capped a year where Idaho's economy dropped over 27,000 nonfarm jobs, the first year the state has lost jobs since 1986. Idaho employers reported hiring fewer people in December than in any other month since mid-1999. Single job openings were attracting hundreds of applicants.

December's 4.1 percent job decline from December 2007 marked the largest year-over-year job loss since October 1982 during the heart of the state's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The dramatic spike in the jobless rate further narrowed Idaho's gap with the national rate, which rose four-tenths of a point to 7.2 percent. Idaho has been below the national rate for over seven years.

 While Idaho's 6.6 percent December forecast could be revised, any revision would be minor. Rates for both October and November were revised downward by a tenth of a point from the preliminary rates. The last time Idaho experienced a month-to-month increase of more than nine-tenths of a point was in 1972.

Sectors with typically higher paying jobs continued to be hit hard. Over 3,800 more construction jobs were lost in December, bringing the total decline in 2008 to 7,600 and dropping the number of construction jobs to its lowest level since April 2005.

Another 1,300 manufacturing jobs disappeared - primarily in high technology and wood products - pushing the overall loss in 2008 to 7,700, one of the worst annual manufacturing job losses on record. This continued erosion left Idaho with less than 58,000 manufacturing jobs, the smallest number since May 1992.

Wholesale and retail trade both shed jobs in December - a month that typically sees increased employment. Financial services, business services and restaurants all posted job losses.

Forty of Idaho's 44 counties saw jobless rates rise and nine posted double-digit rates. Adams at 17.5 percent was the highest. A year ago, the highest rate was 9 percent in Clearwater County. Clearwater was also the last county reporting an unemployment rate at 17.5 percent - in February 1988.

Unemployment in the Boise-Nampa metropolitan area hit 6.8 percent, up from 2.5 percent one year earlier. In the past year, 15,800 fewer people were working, nearly 60 percent of the state's employment loss, while the ranks of the unemployed swelled by 12,700, just over 40 percent of the increase statewide.

The lowest county unemployment rate in December was 2.7 percent in Owyhee County. No other counties reported unemployment rates below 3.5 percent. A year ago, 22 were at or below 3 percent with the lowest rate in Owyhee County at 1.2 percent.

In 2008, unemployment averaged 4.2 percent, up a percentage point and a half from 2007's record low average and the highest annual average rate since 2004. During 2008, 37 counties saw unemployment rates double.

Clearwater recorded the highest average rate at 9.2 percent, well above the 2007 average of 6.6 percent. The lowest annual average unemployment rate was reported in Teton County at 2.3 percent. Eight other counties reported average unemployment rates at or below 3 percent. In 2007 there were 27 counties with an average unemployment rate at or below 3 percent.

Seasonally Adjusted Forecast Data            

12/08
11/08
12/07

Civilian Labor Force
760,300
760,700
757,100
Unemployment                                       
50,100
43,300
20,200
% Labor Force Unemployed
6.6
5.7
2.7
Total Employment
710,200
717,400
736,900

Unadjusted Forecast Data                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

12/08
11/08
12/07

Civilian Labor Force
757,400
759,100
755,500
Unemployment                                       
50,100
42,000
22,300
% Labor Force Unemployed
6.6
5.5
3.0
Total Employment
707,300
717,100
733,200

Area Unemployment Rates            

12/08
11/08
12/07

Boise City-Nampa MSA
6.8
5.9
2.5
Burley MicSA
6.1
4.5
3.3
Coeur d'Alene MSA*
7.3
6.7
3.0
Grangeville SLMA
10.3
8.8
4.8
Hailey SLMA
5.5
4.9
2.1
Idaho Falls MSA
4.8
3.5
1.9
Lewiston MSA
6.4
6.0
3.3
Pocatello MSA
5.5
4.7
2.5
Rexburg MicSA.
4.8
3.6
2.0
Twin Falls MicSA
5.1
4.6
2.1

*Coeur d'Alene MSA includes all of Kootenai County

The information contained in this e-mail from the Idaho Department of Labor may be privileged, confidential, or otherwise protected from disclosure. Persons who share such information with unauthorized individuals may face penalties under state and federal law. If you have received this e-mail in error, please reply to the sender that you received this information in error and delete this e-mail after replying to the sender.

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-- 

Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
1375 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel:  (208) 882-6077
Fax:  (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail at moscow.com=======================================================
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