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Poll Watch: The Best and Worst Job Markets in 2010 – Nevada and California some of the Worst
I am not surprised especially with regard to Nevada and California being poor job markets, according to the latest Gallup Poll.More than half of the 10 best job markets in 2010 were in energy- and commodity-producing states. Most of the 10 states with the worst job markets consisted of finance states of the Northeast and the housing-depressed states of the West.
Having a significant presence of natural resource-based industries was a distinct job-creation advantage for states such as North Dakota, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Texas. These were among the top 10 job markets in 2010, as they were in 2008 and 2009. Also among the top 10 in 2010 were Alaska — another energy state — and Washington, D.C., and Maryland, both of which benefit from having a large percentage of federal government workers. Mostly farm commodity states — including Arkansas, South Dakota, Iowa, and Pennsylvania — fill out the top 10.
What about improvement between 2009 and 2010?
States showing the most improvement in job market conditions between 2009 and 2010 included the long-depressed manufacturing states of Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania — likely reflecting the significant improvement in U.S. manufacturing last year. Also among the most improved were 5 of the 10 states with the worst job markets in 2009, giving them the most room to improve: Oregon, Delaware, Arizona, Minnesota, along with Michigan. Reflecting the growth of the federal government, the District of Columbia was not only the second-best job market but also the second-most improved job market in 2010.
Eight of the states showing the least improvement last year were in the 10 best job markets in 2009, including New Mexico, Nebraska, West Virginia, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. Also among those showing the least improvement are several states in the Northeast — New Jersey, Vermont, and New York — and two smaller states in the West, Montana and Wyoming.
So, what does this mean politically?
It is noted that only two key battleground state in the Electoral College are listed – Nevada and Virginia. The other states are either very blue or very red which means these states in the extreme job markets will be ignored during the race for 2012.
Nevada’s unemployment rate, plus President Obama’s comments about Las Vegas may play well there for the GOP nominee but demographic changes (more Hispanic and union, Clark County voters) if they show up and vote may be too much to overcome.
Virginia is a state where the GOP will need to perform well if they wish to beat President Obama.
The GOP nominee will concentrate their campaign in other states which have poor unemployment numbers.
Gallup’s job creation index and job market conditions portend more of the same for 2011.
Gallup’s Job Creation Index averaged +7 nationwide during 2010, with 28% of employees reporting their companies were hiring and 21% saying their companies were letting people go. Regionally, job market creation was best in the Midwest and South but lagged behind in the East and West.
Looking ahead, it seems likely that the overall pattern of state job market conditions across the nation in 2011 will remain similar to those of the past three years. Energy prices are surging and gas is now $3.29 a gallon nationwide, compared with $2.69 a year ago. High oil prices tend to improve hiring activity in energy-producing states. Similarly, high commodity prices should help job conditions in the farm and mining states.
On the other hand, the housing market continues to suffer. This suggests that states with the worst housing conditions will continue to see relatively difficult job market conditions for some time.
Of course, it is possible that state and federal budget cutbacks could hurt job market conditions in some states more than others, particularly those having the worst budget problems, such as California, New York, and Illinois. Or, federal budget cuts could hurt states with a large number of federal government employees. Alternatively, U.S. manufacturing and exports could continue to increase, providing more jobs in industrial states.
All in all, not a good poll about jobs for the incumbent President and Democratic U.S. Senate incumbents going into election 2012.
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Gallup: U.S. Unemployment Up Slightly to 9.8% in January
This will not help President Obama as he prepares to run for re-election.Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased to 9.8% at the end of January — up from 9.6% at the end of December, but down from 10.9% a year ago.
Some political pundits maintain that if the unemployment rate does not decrease to below 8% that Obama will NOT win re-election. So far, economic conditions do not look favorable for him.
Comparing Gallup’s unemployment and underemployment rates so far in 2011 with those for the same periods in 2010 provides something of a seasonally adjusted view of Gallup’s jobs data. Unemployment and underemployment are now at least one point below the rates of a year ago, reflecting modest improvement over the past year.
Still, Gallup’s measures paint a real-time picture of the current job realities on the ground: nearly 1 in 10 Americans in the U.S. workforce are unemployed, nearly one out of five are underemployed, and the nation’s overall hiring situation has not improved over the past four to six months.
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Obamanomics: Ventura County California Unemployment Rate Rises to 10.8%
The economy is not good in Ventura County, California.
Ventura County’s unemployment rate rose to 10.8 percent in November from a revised 10.5 percent in October, state officials said today.
California’s unemployment rate remains unchanged at 12.4 percent while the nation’s unemployment rate has edged up to 9.8 percent after three months rooted at 9.6 percent.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put out a statement this morning urging Gov.-elect Jerry Brown and the Legislature to focus on California’s employers.
At least the President has just signed a continuation of the Bush-Era Tax Cuts and Rates. But, more has to be done to cut spending, regulation and taxes.
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Post-recession Unemployment ‘Scariest Ever’ Job Chart Show its Worst Than WW2
Post-recession Unemployment ‘Scariest Ever’ Job Chart Show its Worst Than WW2
As US unemployment jumped to 9.8 per cent, it is a chart to chill the bones of any job hunter.
Comparing previous recoveries from all 10 American recessions since 1948 to the current financial crisis, the figures show almost no improvement in employment figures in the past year.
Some commentators have described the comparison as ‘the scariest jobs chart ever’, pointing to the fact that only the 2001 recession took longer to bring employment back to pre-crisis levels.
Number of months after peak employment
Even then, the total percentage of jobs lost bottomed out at two per cent, compared with six per cent this time round.
Unemployment is a MAJOR problem because President Obama and the Democratic dominated congress ignored the economy and busniess growth the last two years and instead pushed their far-left ideologies, including Cap and Tax and ObamaCare.
The Democrats paid the price last month and Obama may very well be voted out of office because of his gross negligence of matters financial.
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Unemployment Rises to 9.8 Per Cent – Highest Rate since April 2010
Matt Drudge is not giving President Obama kind treatment this morning showing his damaged basketball lip with the news that the economy under his Administration continues to struggle.The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in November and the unemployment rate rose to its highest level since April, underlining the continued weakness in the labor market 17 months into the recovery.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 39,000 last month as private-sector employers added only 50,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday. The October number was revised up slightly to show a 172,000 increase from a previous estimate of 151,000.
The unemployment rate, which is obtained from a separate household survey, unexpectedly rose to 9.8% last month. More than 15 million people who would like to work can’t get a job.
I would suggest that the Senate Republicans and Obama Administration should speedily agree to a compromise Bush era tax rate/cut bill and give stability to the financial markets. They can extend them for one year if they wish and revisit the issue.
But, do SOMETHING for small business, so they can put Americans back to work.