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03.12.2010 Policy Points Comments Off on State Coincident Indicators: Oct.

State Coincident Indicators: Oct.

Economic conditions across much of the nation improved slightly in September, according to the newest State Coincident Indexes Report prepared by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

In September coincident indexes moved in a positive direction in 24 states and in a negative direction in 14 states. No changes occurred in 12 states.

The map to the right, which is taken from the Reserve Bank’s survey, shows the three-month changes in coincident indicators by state. Positive numbers denote improvements in economic conditions, and negative numbers refer to declines.

Over the last three months, coincident indexes increased in 31 states, decreased in 12 states and held steady in seven states.

During the same three-month period, North Carolina’s coincident index moved in a positive direction, which suggests improvements in local economic conditions.

02.12.2010 Policy Points Comments Off on Around The Dial – Dec. 2

Around The Dial – Dec. 2

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

02.12.2010 Policy Points Comments Off on NC Unemployment Claims: Week of 11/13

NC Unemployment Claims: Week of 11/13

For the benefit week ending on November 13th, 14,340 North Carolinians filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits, and 119,112 individuals applied for state-funded continuing benefits. Compared to the prior week, there were more initial and 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 14,281 initial claims were filed over the previous four weeks, along with an average of 117,477 continuing claims. Compared to the previous four-week period, there were more initial and continuing claims.

One year ago, the four-week average for initial claims stood at 18,973 and the four-week average of continuing claims equaled 181,445.

While the number of claims has dropped over the past year, so has covered employment. Last week, covered employment totaled 3.7 million, down from 4 million a year ago.

The graph (right) 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 business 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. Also, new claims have been on the rise since the end of September.

Also, little change has occurred within recent months. Since April 2010, the four-week average of initial claims consistently has ranged between 14,281 and 11,200.

02.12.2010 Policy Points Comments Off on The Failure of 401(k) Plans

The Failure of 401(k) Plans

A recent research report from Demos, a public policy organization in New York City,  chronicles the ways in which 401(k) plans have failed to help Americans save enough money for retirement. From the report …

The retirement security of American families has crumbled in the past generation. Workers retiring in the next 20 years can expect to receive only 65 percent during retirement of what they made during their working years, a drop of 16 percent from their parents. Foreboding economic forecasts for flat wages, high unemployment, and rising costs of big-ticket necessities such as education and medical care suggest that young workers today could be on even shakier ground. Only 59 percent of full time workers have access to retirement plans at work, leaving a large part of the workforce to rely solely on Social Security benefits that are inadequate for a comfortable retirement and are under further attack by political opponents.1Much of the decline in retirement security is due to the shift in the private sector from providing retirement benefits through traditional pensions, which guaranteed a lifetime stream of income at retirement, to less secure individual retirement accounts, whose benefits vary with the size of employer and employee contributions, and the volatile swings of the stock market.

01.12.2010 Policy Points Comments Off on Around The Dial – Dec. 1

Around The Dial – Dec. 1

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