Double Digit Unemployment Rates Hit Seven States
According to the latest report by Associated Press today, more states have logged double digit rates of unemployment in February; with North Carolina and Rhode Island hitting their record high.
Nationwide, the US unemployment rate has hit 8.1 percent this past February, reaching a 25 year record high, according to a report released by the US Labor Department earlier this month. The economic gurus have predicted that even if the recession was to subside by this year’s end, the expected unemployment rate at the end of 2009 is 10 percent.
In January this year, only 4 states reported unemployment rates topping 10 percent, which has risen to 7 in the past month, with three more states adding to the growing list; according to figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The common trends running through higher unemployment are the layoffs in manufacturing and construction sectors, which have been hit very hard with by the housing collapse. Another factor is the difficulty faced by states to convince new types of companies to invest in them to help lessen the loss of manufacturing jobs and retain factory workers that have lost their jobs for other types of employment.
Forbes.com reported earlier today that North Carolina’s jobless rate climbed to 10.7 percent in February, the highest point ever since the state started keeping record in the 1970s. North Carolina’s job outlook is rated as the fourth worst in the country right now. Most of the job cuts across this state have also been in the manufacturing sector, with a lot of the jobs being outsourced. The number of unemployed in the state has grown to 491,067, an increase of 51,902 jobless people.
The worst hit state is Michigan, with rates hitting as high as 12 percent last month, owing to the depression hit auto industry.
Michigan is followed by South Carolina with 11 percent and Oregon with 10.8 percent. Indiana also, has reported rates topping the 25 year record, at 9.4 percent. On the other hand, Wyoming so far has been reporting the lowest unemployment rates, with February’s figures at 3.9 percent.
A steep rise in the number of unemployed has been recorded in the nation’s capital as well. According to a news story released by Washington Post earlier today, the district’s unemployment rate is bordering on double digits, at 9.9 percent last month. This is despite the fact that the availability of steady federal jobs has largely protected the area from the massive private sector job cuts seen around the country.
The only state to have reported a downturn in these trying times has been Nebraska, with the unemployment rate falling from 4.3 percent in January to 4.2 percent last month. Though these figures are still higher than those posted a year ago when Nebraska stood at 3 percent, the fact that the state’s unemployment rate fell and is now half the national average shows that Nebraska has not been as hard hit by the catastrophe that has been caused by the housing and banking crisis as other states.
It is true that February’s numbers pose a grim outlook, but signs show that the economy may be on the right track finally. The stock market is up 20 percent from its lows earlier this month and the US Commerce Department has reported that consumer spending has risen for a second month in a row last month.
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