MA jobless rate highest in 9 years

[midnight armadillo]

Mass. rate of jobless highest in 9 years

Unemployment in Massachusetts surged to its highest level in nine years in August, as employers slashed jobs for the first time in five months and the state, like the nation, continues to suffer a jobless recovery.

The state jobless rate jumped four-tenths of a percentage point in August, to 5.8 percent, the highest rate since October 1994, when it hit 5.9 percent, the state Division of Employment and Training reported yesterday. The number of unemployed also jumped, climbing by 12,000, to just under 200,000, the most since February 1994.

--------<more at the Boston Globe>--------

The story quotes an economist who claims a turnaround is just around the corner...you know, the same crap they've been claiming since March 2001.

[Forkboy]

1. In the Fitchburg/Leominster area of Ma

it's at 8.4% acording to our local paper.

[The Zanti Regent]

13. Well, aren't you gonna recall Romney?

If the GOP wants Davis recalled over the poor California economy, turnabout is fair play!

[watercolors]

19. Hello

My husband is from Fitchburg, I''m from Leominster.Been here in Fl 33Yrs, old timers now.Haven't been back in 18 yrs.

[watercolors]

20. forgot to add

finding jobs in Fl not that easy either, we are in the space coast area, and there have been many lay offs at the cape because of shuttle accident, tourist industry very slow all over the state. My husband retired from the cape a few years back, I work part time, our 401's lost big time, and we are trying to help our children who are trying to survive in this economy. We worry constantly about the outcome for all.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

2. What's not included in the unemployment rate

is the number of people whose unemployment benefits have run out who are still jobless. I know quite a few here in Mass. who haven't worked in over a year. I just got a job myself after two months and there isn't a lot out there. Coupled with our exorbitant cost of living here, it wouldn't surprise me if the state kept bleeding jobs. Living in a university town, I hear of people declining offers to come here and teach or work because it costs 500K for a decent house. Pretty sad.

[midnight armadillo]

3. The housing is killer

My wife lost her teaching job and unemployment runs out in Jan. We've got our fingers crossed for an extension. COBRA is eating up half of those checks...and we pay out almost half our income for a modest apartment.

If housing was reasonable, we'd be ok. But, instead we have 'home rule' for zoning and we wind up with sprawling suburbia and a chronic housing shortage. My wife and I may yet move out of state in 2 years or so, and we'll take our 3 bachelors, 3 masters, and 1 PhD degree with us.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

4. Good Luck! Did she teach HS or College?

So many of the towns are so expensive in Mass. I live in Cambridge and the per square foot house values are as high as Manhattan. Have you thought of moving farther away from Boston?

I hope things pick up so you don't have to move out of state. We need as many committed liberals as possible here to fight Romney and his minions.

[Chico Man]

15. Come on over the border to RI! :)

The differences are drastic. I still get town trash pickup. I am 10 mins from 95 in MA, 495, 295, and 1 hour commute from Boston, and 15 mins to Providence.

The monstrosities they are building over the line in Wrentham and N. Attleboro are cheaply built, WAY overpriced, and lack all sense of style and privacy.

In my town, a large percentage of new homes fall under grandfather clauses that state all new homes must be built on a minimum of 3 acres. Needless to say the number of new homes here are a fraction of the number going up over the border in MA. This keeps the schools and traffic under control as well.

I'm glad I moved out of MA and to RI. It must feel like Mass did back in the 70's when things were still in check.

[MUAD_DIB]

8. If cobra/insurance is eating up half of your bill

then you may want to look a less expensive alternative.

With the SBSB (Small Business Service Bureau) of Massachusetts may have a better insuracnce plan that could save you a few $.

Good luck to you and your wife.

[Mairead]

5. Yes, I'm one of the uncounted ones, as are 5 other people I know

two of us over 50 and 3 over 60. We were 'laid off' (anyone else remember when that meant a temporary situation?) between 18 months and 2 years ago. None of us have been able to find work since. A couple of us scored a poorly-paid temp job or two initially, but nothing that used the graduate degrees, multiple skillsets, or decades of experience we had on offer.

There are a lot of people in power lying their asses off to us about how bad it is.

[mhr]

12. Uncounted Here in Texas

Unemployed 38 months.

MBA
Electrical Engineer
Commercial Pilot
Veteran

Have not seen an iota of interest in over 18 months.

[Mairead]

14. Over 40 y.o. by any chance?

[mhr]

18. Yes!

And I think that is one of the problems!

[Noordam]

22. Uncounted Here in Florida

30 years in computers.
Unix "bleeding edge" stuff. Well bleeding edge 30 months ago :)

and out of work 30 months.

[hyphenate]

16. I moved from L.A. back to Mass

hoping to find work. I wasn't getting anywhere in L.A. and thought coming home was the best idea. Now, after seven months, I'm still without work and getting desperate. I thought there would be something open in the tech corridor, but alas and alack, it ain't true. For every job posted, there are at least 50 applicants, if not more.

[Aries]

21. Unemployment benefits having nothing to do with this statistic

from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website:

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_faq.htm#Ques5

Who is counted as unemployed?

Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.

If you are in the monthly survey and meet that definition you are counted as unemployed, regardless of your eligibility for benefits.

The bigger problem is how easy it is to be counted as "employed", i.e.

Who is counted as unemployed?

Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.

"Have a job" means ANY work for ANY amount of time for ANY amount of pay. So one can still be employed, and be poor by any measurement.

[polmaven]

24. But who is asking those questions?

Those are the questions one must answer in order to be eligible for and collect an unemployment check.

Once one's eligibility is exhausted, that person's statistics are no longer in the system, and no one is counting him/her in the base.

[polmaven]

23. Sure...This is why Mitt

is proposing now, of all times, to roll back the unemployment eligibility to 26 weeks from 30 weeks. Four less weeks to have to count long term unemployed, and make his administration look bad.

[sspiderjohn]

6. But a deliberate war is designed to boost the economy, right?

Regardless of your opinion on WWII conspiracy, WWII did help end the Great Depression. Geez, these BushBums have f***ed up in every conceivable way. They can't do anything right.

[AndyTiedye]

7. That What They Want Us To Think

> Regardless of your opinion on WWII conspiracy, WWII did help end the Great Depression

The charts tell another story. The Depression was all but over when WW2 started.
When it did, the markets went *down*.
It was the END of the war that brought the boom.

[sspiderjohn]

9. Oh -- thanks for the correction

I'd always heard that war is the way to stave up a falling economy.

[MUAD_DIB]

10. Just an FYI...

The depression was still in effect in some areas of the U.S. even while WWII was winding down, and it took a number of years to reach a full recovery.

I don't follow the charts on this.

I have plenty of stories from relatives from the west and mid west who felt the sting for years.

[MUAD_DIB]

11. Just an FYI...

The depression was still in effect in some areas of the U.S. even while WWII was winding down, and it took a number of years to reach a full recovery.

I don't follow the charts on this.

I have plenty of stories from relatives from the west and mid west who felt the sting for years.

[area51]

17. Media Happy Talk & the Economy

A rightwing economist said:

"... a turnaround is just around the corner...."

I believe Herbert Hoover said "Prosperity is just around the corner." I'm sure the no. of unemployed people is way undercounted; it's the One Degree of Unemployment, you're either unemployed or you know someone who is. We need an FDR-type president who will start a WPA of some sort to get people back to work again.


"Statistically speaking, it's easier to get admitted into Harvard University than to get a job in this economy."

--CBS News, 8/1/03

---

Looking for a position as a Linux or Unix Sys Admin, or a Copy Editor position in the Hou., TX area.

[ozone_man]

25. Ah, the perennial forecasted turnaround.

Keeps on slipping away. I always wished that I could have a way of recording economists predictions and compare them to actuals over the last 3 years. This year it's the second half that's supposed to pick up, same as last year. Wait until the end of the year, and economists will say that it's still a little soft and it will be early next year when things really take off. In my opinion, we are entering into a long "soft" depression, maybe 5 or even 10 years, before a recovery happens.