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Around The Dial – November 28, 2011

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• Fed Watch doesn’t like what is happening in the global economy.
• Martin Wolf says the Eurozone “must advance or face ruin.”
• Paul Krugman explains “we are the 99.9 percent.”
• National Journal reports on the surge of long-term unemployment.
• Econbrowser argues that blocking tax increases for the 1% is a losing battle.
• Economist’s View points out “why America should share the wealth.”

Manufacturing In The South Atlantic: Nov. 2011

From the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s latest survey of manufacturing activity in the South Atlantic (District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia):

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region stabilized in November following four months of contraction, according to the Richmond Fed’s latest survey. The index of overall activity steadied as a slightly positive reading for shipments offset a slight decrease in new orders and a flat reading in employment. Modest improvement was also evident in most other indicators. District contacts reported continuing moderate weakness in backlogs, but noted that capacity utilization edged lower. Delivery times grew at a somewhat quicker pace, while inventories grew at a slightly slower rate.
…
Looking forward, manufacturers were generally more optimistic about their business prospects for the next six months. Contacts at more firms anticipated that shipments, new orders, backlogs, capacity utilization and capital expenditures would grow more quickly during the next six months.

NC Unemployment Claims: Week Of 11/5/11

For the benefit week ending on November 5, 2011, some 11,352 North Carolinians filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits, and 106,763 individuals applied for state-funded continuing benefits. Compared to the prior week, there were fewer initial and more continuing claims. These figures come from data released by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Averaging new and continuing claims over a four-week period — a process that helps adjust for seasonal fluctuations and better illustrates trends — shows that an average of 12,186 initial claims were filed over the previous four weeks, along with an average of 106,021 continuing claims. Compared to the previous four-week period, the average number of initial claims was lower and the number of continuing claims was higher.

One year ago, the four-week average for initial claims stood at 13,776  and the four-week average of continuing claims equaled 116,460.

In recent weeks covered employment has increased slightly and has returned to the 3.73 million level recorded a year ago. Nevertheless,  there are still fewer covered workers than there were in January 2008, which means that payrolls are smaller today than they were almost three years ago.

The graph shows the changes in unemployment insurance claims (as a share of covered employment) in North Carolina since the recession’s start in December 2007.

Both new and continuing claims appear to have peaked for this cycle, and the four-week averages of new and continuing claims have fallen considerably.  Yet continuing claims remain at an elevated level, which suggests that unemployed individuals are finding it difficult to find new positions.

Editor’s Note

Policy Points is taking a long weekend to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. Normal posting will resume on Monday, November 128, 2011.

Thank you for your interest in the blog, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Around The Dial – November 22, 2011

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• Lawrence Summers worries about income inequality.
• Random Samplings describes changes in the White population.
• The Progressive Pulse sees North Carolina heading down a bad path.
• Jared Bernstein discusses a middle-class squeeze in the United Kingdom.
• The Center for American Progress analyzes funding for Pell Grants.