The Economy
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1 in 10 Americans Unemployed
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Budget Crises, Development Woes Confront Mayors
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Stimulus Bypasses Women and Minority Businesses
10% Unemployment Looming
Published November 05, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT
New unemployment #s come out tomorrow - economists predict 9.9% unemployment nationwide. Can I just round that up to 10% and call it a day?
First time jobless claims were less than expected in October, though only 20k fewer of over half a million. We are supposed to take this as good news that "job cuts are easing as the economy slowly heals." This is the lowest level since January. Still...2009 is almost over and we're still seeing half a million people per month file for unemployment for the first time? That is one horribly contracting economy.
Surviving workers are laboring more feverishly than ever - productivity is up even as our incomes are "squeezed". The stimulus is keeping a lot of jobs afloat; unemployment benefits are practically extended into perpetuity at this point. No wonder discount retailers are doing slightly better than specialty stores; it's amazing we've got anything left to leave behind at the mall!
Your Recession in Charts
Published November 02, 2009 @ 01:52PM PT
Last week President Obama touted 640,000 jobs were created or saved via the stimulus. No doubt the stim, as we're apparently calling it now, has had some positive impact. (Though if it's behind the endless road improvements going on in the Greater Boston area that's driving me insane, pun intended, then I might have to rethink this whole public works investment concept!)
But eminent economist Joseph Stiglitz pronounces the recovery "nowhere near" over and the myriad charts our friends at Calculated Risk and the Wall Street Journal certainly suggest as much. WSJ has an interactive map of stimulus spending by state, including jobs saved and current unemployment rates. 15% unemployment in Michigan! It's almost 30% in Detroit.
Calculated Risk has the gruesome images, including the above graph demonstrating a national unemployment rate of 9.8% (as of September 30), the highest in 26 years.
Fresh Produce Still Unaffordable
Published October 31, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
Where I live in Boston, farmers' markets abound in the summer and fall. I stopped by the Allston Farmers' Market yesterday, where there were free samples of apple cider, pumpkin painting for the kids*, live music, and t-shirts for sale. So nice!
This farmers' market is at a busy intersection, includes parking, is across the street from an affordable housing complex, and is on 2 bus lines. It runs on Friday afternoons until 7pm, so feasibly working people can stop by on their way home. So many conveniences. Also nice.
I then spent $12.50 on 5 carrots, a pint of grape tomatoes, and 6 apples. Not so nice. $12.50??? Does this seem high to anyone else or is it just me? (Granted, I did not buy the apples in bulk, which might have saved me some $$.)
I like supporting organic farms, local farms, local businesses, all that jazz. It's important to me. And I'm thrilled to see this farmers' market accepts EBT, WIC, etc. But with those prices, why would the average low-income shopper part with their dollars there? Can't I stretch my dollars a lot further at the grocery store, purchasing produce shipped in from CA and Mexico? Can't I get more bang for my buck from canned and frozen foods?
ABC's of an Effective Jobs Initiative
Published October 30, 2009 @ 05:04AM PT
Driving the Learning Curve Express around backroads of the lower 48, my observation is America's human infrastructure is on life support. The latest unemployment indicators aren't real encouraging. CNN reports...
...the slide may signal that more filers are dropping off those rolls into extended benefits....The figures do not include those who have moved to state or federal extensions, or people whose benefits have expired.
In an op-ed column in The Baltimore Sun, Julianne Malveaux validates my ideas.
To commemorate this anniversary of the Great Depression, the Obama administration ought to engage in Depression-era tactics to jump-start the economy. We have spent $700 billion bailing out banks and $787 billion in economic stimulus. But we have not focused on directly creating employment, on lifting people at the bottom.
Come on! Let's kick something in gear that works.
Most Elderly Job Seekers Since the Great Depression
Published October 29, 2009 @ 08:54PM PT
As a nation, we haven't done too well on reducing poverty overall, but one point of pride has been our success in reducing elder poverty through the creation of Social Security, Medicare, and a general prioritizing of affordable housing and social services for older Americans. Especially considering older Americans' voting power, these programs are generally considered sacrosanct, despite the best efforts of Bush & Co.
So this article from last week is particularly alarming: more Americans aged 65 and up are on the job market than at any other time since the Great Depression - and five times more elderly than just a few years ago. Indebtedness is way up, and economic insecurity is widespread. Are we reversing one of our few anti-poverty successes of the 20th century?
Staying Warm This Winter
Published October 27, 2009 @ 11:13AM PT
In many regions across the country, the days are getting shorter and the colorful autumn leaves are slowly falling to the ground. This can only mean that the stinging cold of winter is just around the corner.
What this also means, particularly with unemployment rates still astonishingly high and the recession continuing, is that nonprofit organizations and government agencies are bracing for an increased demand for utility assistance over the next several months.
The main way that energy assistance funds are distributed in the U.S. is through the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. However, instead of providing assistance directly to the general public, the Department makes block grants to individual states who then distribute checks to needy households.
The Flawed U.S. Poverty Measure
Published October 24, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
New data released recently by the Census Bureau highlights a gigantic problem many Americans are already painfully aware of: the way the U.S. government measures poverty is extremely flawed.
Because official poverty estimates do not take into account factors like rising medical care, transportation, child care or geographical variations in living costs, the Census Bureau publishes alternative data using a poverty measure developed by the National Academy of Sciences.
This new data shows that there are 7 million more Americans living in poverty than initially reported by the agency last month, and brings the total poverty rate in the U.S. to nearly 16 percent. What I found most shocking is that the original Census Bureau figures failed to capture half of all elderly living in poverty (official estimate was 9.7 percent, but the new figures show 18.7 percent of persons 65+ currently live in poverty).
