South By North Strategies, Ltd.

NC Unemployment Claims: Week of 3/20

For the benefit week ending on March 20th, 14,162 North Carolinians filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits, and 192,551 individuals applied for state-funded continuing benefits. Compared to the prior week, there were fewer initial and continuing claims. These figures come from data released today 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 16,767 initial claims were filed over the last four weeks, along with an average of 199,953 claims. Compared to the previous four-week period, both initial and continuing claims were lower.

One year ago, the four-week average for initial claims stood at 29,011 and the four-week average of continuing claims equaled 224,783.

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.

Although new and continuing claims appear to have peaked for this business cycle, the claims levels remain elevated and point to a labor market that remains extremely weak. Especially troubling is the high level of continuing claims, which suggests that unemployed individuals are finding it extremely difficult to find new positions.

Cities, Investment Banks, and Taxpayers

Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi use his frustrating, profane, but engaging style to show how Birmingham, Ala. allowed itself to be “looted” by Wall Street.

The sewer bill, in fact, is what cost [Lisa] Pack and her co-workers their jobs. In 1996, the average monthly sewer bill for a family of four in Birmingham  [Alabama] was only $14.71 — but that was before the county decided to build an elaborate new sewer system with the help of out-of-state financial wizards with names like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. The result was a monstrous pile of borrowed money that the county used to build, in essence, the world’s grandest toilet — “the Taj Mahal of sewer-treatment plants” is how one county worker put it. What happened here in Jefferson County would turn out to be the perfect metaphor for the peculiar alchemy of modern oligarchical capitalism: A mob of corrupt local officials and morally absent financiers got together to build a giant device that converted human shit into billions of dollars of profit for Wall Street — and misery for people like Lisa Pack.

Around the Dial – April 7

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

• Dean Baker and Kevin Hassett ask if work sharing could work.
• Robert Reich says to “break up the banks.”
• Edward Glaeser argues that home values won’t rise.
• Naked Capitalism analyzes trends in rent prices.

Local Labor Markets in February

Labor market conditions across North Carolina have changed little in 2010, according to preliminary data released today by the Employment Security Commission. In February, 87 counties posted double-digit unemployment rates, and 58 counties recorded unemployment rates of at least 12 percent. Local labor forces also contracted in 40 counties.

Every part of the state experienced weak labor markets in February. Unemployment rates exceeded 10 percent in 87 counties, and in 58 counties, at least 12 percent of the labor force was jobless and actively seeking work. County unemployment rates ranged from 6.9 percent in Orange County to 19.4 percent in Graham County.

Unemployment also rose last month in 6 of the state’s metropolitan areas. Nine metros posted double-digit unemployment rates. The Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir area had the highest unemployment rate (15.8 percent) followed by Rocky Mount (14.7 percent). The lowest metro unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in Durham-Chapel Hill.

Click here for South by North Strategies’ full analysis of the February local employment report.

Understanding Unemployment Insurance

The PBS NewsHour looks at the problems facing the unemployment insurance system.