An infographic prepared by the Center for American Progress traces the growth in the number of adult-headed, working-age households with no or negative net wealth between 2007 and 2010, as well as changes in the concentration of wealth over the same period.
Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:
For the benefit week ending on July 28, 2012, some 10,848 North Carolinians filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits and 100,339 individuals applied for state-funded continuing benefits. Compared to the prior week, there were more initial and fewer 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 14,071 initial claims were filed over the previous four weeks, along with an average of 104,573 continuing claims. Compared to the previous four-week period, the average number of initial claims was lower, and the average number of continuing claims was higher.
One year ago, the four-week average for initial claims stood at 12,868, and the four-week average of continuing claims equaled 112,554.
In recent weeks covered employment has increased and now exceeds the level recorded a year ago (3.77 million versus 3.71 million). Nevertheless, there are still fewer covered workers than there were in January 2008, which means that payrolls are smaller today than they were some 4.5 years ago.
The graph shows the changes in unemployment insurance claims measured 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.
Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:
Researchers from The Brookings Institution recently noted that public-sector employment in America stands at its lowest level, relative to the size of the population, in over 30 years. Had the historical ratio held constant, the American economy would have had 1.7 million more jobs in June 2012.
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