Posted by marykeating on September 6, 2010 under Economic situation | 
For better or worse, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the unemployment picture looks much the same as last year this time. A large amount of temporary census workers have been laid off, as expected. In addition, more people are classified as “discouraged workers,” meaning people who are not looking for work because they don’t think there are jobs open to them. More people are employed part-time for economic reasons, meaning they would work more if the hours were offered.
Health care employment is up, and manufacturing is down. The report refrains from drawing conclusions, but seems to see no significant trends.
Posted by marykeating on August 20, 2010 under Economic situation |
I’m not going to rehash the headlines that make everyone worry that the next recession is around the corner, even though we haven’t enjoyed the recovery yet. I did see a little bright spot locally, though. The Governor’s press release refers to a “Job Search Difficulty Index,” put out by www.juju.com. According to its analysis, the Baltimore metropolitan area has the fourth best job outlook. The study ranks major metropolitan areas by the number of unemployed individuals per each advertised job. More good news: the top spot goes to Washington, D.C., where many Marylanders work or would agree to work. The study is simplistic, in that it does not match qualifications against the advertised jobs. Still, a ratio of 1.67 unemployed people against 1 open job does not sound that bad. Certainly not as bad as Miami’s 9.41 ratio, or Detroit’s 8.67.
Besides being simplistic, though, these ratios are misleading in the way that the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts the unemployed. In fact, many unemployed Baltimore residents have been missing from this count for years. The number of unemployed people is based on a survey of people who are considered to be actively looking for work. It does not include a self-employed person (though some people are self-employed only until they find a job they like), someone in school, someone working in a family business, and someone who did not look for a job in the last four weeks.
Posted by marykeating on August 6, 2010 under Economic situation, Unemployment compensation |
As reported here a few months ago, part of the federal stimulus package consisted of a tax credit for employers who expanded their workforce, and filled the new slots with people who had been receiving unemployment benefits. The plan provided multiple benefits: people on the unemployment rolls become more attractive at a time when many are finding their unemployment status as a stigma, the unemployment rolls decrease, lessening the burden on a bulging system, and employers find it easier to express optimism in the future when the government kicks in a $5,000 tax credit per hire.
Unfortunately, not many people have benefited. According to the U.S. Treasury, only 238 employees were hired in Maryland under this plan, from February through July. The program has room for Maryland companies to hire 4,000 workers through the end of the year; the local economy is unlikely to use all of these credits. That failure seems more associate with lack of awareness of the available tax breaks, however, since hiring is up since January. Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation has a link to information on the program on its home page.
Of course, the federal government may choose to extend the program; as businesses begin tax preparation the credit may become more well-known.
Posted by marykeating on July 29, 2010 under Economic situation, Unemployment compensation |
resident Obama signed into law the restoration of unemployment benefits last week. For workers whose benefits had expired seven weeks ago, that was good news. They are now entitled to a maximum of 99 weeks of benefits. To employers, the news most likely means another future hike in the unemployment tax applied to the payroll. Still, with unemployment near 10% in many places, and unemployment rates up in three-quarters of the metropolitan areas of the country, it is illogical to blame the unemployed.
In the census study, a question went unanswered about the effect of unemployment benefits on the incentive to find work. Keeping in mind that the benefits are relatively low, one would think that most people would continue to look for work at their former pay rate, since lifestyle tends to follow income level. A short article entitled “Five Myths About Unemployment” appeared in Sunday’s Washington Post, and addresses some of the concerns about the extension, and reasons that overall it is good for the country as well as the individual workers who need it.
Posted by marykeating on July 27, 2010 under Economic situation, Unemployment compensation |
A new study released by the census followed a group of people over several years (2004 through 2007) to compare their “spells” of unemployment. A spell of unemployment is defined as a period of a month or more that the person was unemployed, for whatever reason.
The study found that younger workers had more frequent but shorter spells and that workers in the age range 45 to 54 had the longest. The length of the spells was longer for more highly educated and for non-white workers. Women were more likely to experience periods of unemployment, but their spells were no longer than that of men.
The study also looked at whether people receiving unemployment benefits were more likely to be unemployed longer; apparently some policymakers believe that the availability of unemployment insurance acts as a disincentive to finding work. The length of the spell of unemployment was several weeks longer among those receiving the benefits. The study did not draw any conclusions from this difference, stating that it may be related to other factors. More interesting was the fact that only 20% of the individuals followed did receive unemployment benefits.
Posted by marykeating on July 7, 2010 under Economic situation |
The news has been full of disappointment over a weak job recovery. While economists say the recession has been over for a year, tell that to the long-term unemployed people. Congress failed to renew their extended unemployment benefits before recessing.
A new study shows growth, though it’s weak. The research looks at hard numbers of available jobs, production, sales and unemployment claims, together with polls of how difficult job seekers considere the market. Based on their aggregation, the Conference Board Employment Trade Index concludes that progress is slow and steady, up 9.8% from a year ago.
Posted by marykeating on June 3, 2010 under Economic situation |
Robert Reich contributed an op-ed piece for The New York Times yesterday, commenting on the rising numbers of entrepreneurs starting new businesses. American, yes? A symbol of optimism for the economy, right? Well, maybe not.
The age range of the entrepreneurs, and other anecdotal information, make analysts believe that many of these new ventures are makeshift substitutes for what their founders really want, a job. That is, people having trouble finding a new job have hung out their shingle as a consultant. Some are rehired by their old companies as temporary or free-lance personnel, usually earning less and nearly always ineligible for benefits. Others are hampered by the credit environment and the teeming numbers of unemployed people from making at true go of it. In the meantime, by characterizing themselves as “self-employed” these laid off workers are often not in the unemployment count.
Under Maryland law, though, a “self-employed” individual can collect unemployment benefits for the weeks that he or she is not actually making any money from the new business. In the meantime, the effort to make self-employment work may pay off even for people who want a steady job, not to create a startup company. To get contract work, one has to fan out into the network and meet new people; those contacts may lead to employment. Before that happens, the resume does not look as empty of enterprise as does a gap in dates.
Posted by marykeating on May 14, 2010 under Economic situation |
Governor Martin O’Malley reported that the state’s use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds from the federal government resulted in positive job effects. Specifically, the Governor’s press release reports that 13,821 jobs were created or saved during the quarter ending March 31. Of those 13,000 jobs, only about 3,500 were paid for directly by the federal subsidy. The others were indirectly created (for example, jobs in industries supplying the federally created projects), or “induced,” meaning that the increased spending in the state saved or created a job in a restaurant or retail store. Eventually, of course, the economy has to hum along on its own steam, but the recovery dollars have held off a worse recession.
Posted by marykeating on May 7, 2010 under Economic situation, Unemployment compensation |
Maryland just became the first state to be entitled to receive $126,750,124 from the United States Department of Labor for unemployment insurance modernization incentive funds. Maryland was the first state to amend the law to become entitled to these funds. The state can use the money for benefits, to administer the program, or add employment services to the unemployed.
The federal program gave an incentive to states to assist part-time workers, people just entering the workforce, and those seeking to upgrade skills. Rather than simply providing job lists and benefits, for example, the funds will help people adjust to changing economies. Though Baltimore has been classified as part of the rust belt for some time, other types of jobs are going overseas, and Marylanders with certain skills find that their old skills are not wanted on this continent any longer. New training programs will help people figure out what skills are still in demand, and how to get them.
In the short term, of course, the money is a boon to a nearly bankrupt fund. As employers know, the rate of unemployment contributions has grown enormously, and this grant from the federal government may at least stop future increases in the tax rate.
Posted by marykeating on April 24, 2010 under Economic situation, Employment benefit issues |
Last week, Congress again extended the reach of the COBRA subsidy. As reported here before, the subsidy was part of the legislation designed to jump start the economy and ease the pain of the unemployed. Instead of paying the full freight of health insurance (plus a two percent administrative fee), the newly unemployed person could pay only 35% of the health insurance premium. The employer paid the rest, and could take an offset from the withholding tax owed to the federal government. In other words, the government pays for the majority of the premium.
This program has been extended not only to last for fifteen months, from the earlier nine, but also applies to those laid off in April or May of 2010. The subsidy is available for people who lose their jobs, not those who quit.
