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FOX News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett is leaving the network for a job the National Journal, saying he wants to "think more and talk less."

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Joblessness & the Great Recession: A Scary, Scary Time-Lapse Digital Graphic, 2007-Present

This is both educational and very, very frightening: a time-lapse digital graphic of a map of the United States as unemployment and underemployment – devastating almost 31 million Americans and counting – sweeps the country, from January 2007 through today.

Las Vegas' jobless rate up to 14.8%, expected to again make it America's most unemployed metro area

Las Vegas’ July jobless rate increased two-tenths of a point, to 14.8%, likely ensuring it will again have the highest unemployment rate of major U.S. cities when national figures are released later this month.

The “real” unemployment rate, which also includes unemployed residents no longer actively seeking work, however, is 21.5%, the state’s Department of Employment, Training and Development announced this morning, which means more than one out of every five Nevadans is jobless.

The state’s July jobless rate ticked up one-tenth, to 14.3%. It is the smallest one-month increase of the year, but marks the 16^th consecutive month the rate increased to a new record high. Given that Michigan announced a slight decrease in its jobless rate Thursday, it’s also likely Nevada will continue to have the country’s highest statewide unemployment rate.

"Weakness in Nevada’s job markets persists, with both the public and private sectors reporting less employment over the month," according to the statement. “Particularly troubling is the continued contraction of the employment services industry,” which supplies temporary workers to expanding businesses. “Growing demand for temporary workers is usually a precursor for future permanent hiring." The drop in July means “expectations for future hiring remain weak.”

Regarding the unofficial unemployment rate – which the state calculated and included in today’s announcement for the first time – “the reality of the recession’s impacts on Nevada’s workforce is much worse than presented” in the official rate.

Fading consumer confidence at odds with growing corporate profits fueled by layoffs and cost-cutting

“You can’t cut your way to prosperity,” according to an old business adage.

But during the Great Recession, corporate America is sure gonna try.

Americans' confidence in the economy faded further in July, according a Conference Board survey released earlier this week, amid job worries and flat wages. But don’t tell that to Big Business, which has enjoyed a recent rally fueled by upbeat earnings reports fueled by layoffs and overseas sales. And despite improved balance sheets and robust stock prices, few companies are rehiring any of the millions of Americans they’ve laid off in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Companies "have the wherewithal to do whatever they want -- hire; make new investments; raise dividends; do mergers and acquisitions," S&P's Howard Silverblatt told Washington Post Writer's Group columnist Robert Samuelson. "Historically, higher profits lead to higher employment," said Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com. 

But "so far, history be damned," Samuelson wrote. "The contrast between revived profits and stunted job growth is stunning. From late 2007 to late 2009, payroll employment dropped nearly 8.4 million. Since then, the economy has recovered a scant 11% of those lost jobs. Companies are doing much better than workers; that defines today's economy." (Read more of Samuelson's thoughts on growing corporate profits and rising unemployment.)

The Consumer Confidence Index registered 50.4 in July, a steeper-than-expected drop from the revised 54.3 in June, according to the Conference Board poll. The decline follows last month's decline of nearly 10 points, and is the lowest point since February. A healthy economy registers 90 or higher – but that’s a level not seen since the recession began in December 2007.

"Consumers have a much different view of the economy than the stock market does, and their views matter more to the economy," Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner told the Associated Press.

"A rapid, sustainable recovery can't happen without the American consumer. Economists closely watch confidence because consumer spending accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity, and is necessary for a robust economic recovery.

"Businesses can't cost cut their way to consistent profit growth," Zandi told Samuelson. "Eventually, they need to generate revenue growth that requires investment and hiring.

"Fatter profits have shown that companies have squeezed higher productivity out of remaining workers, but that also means that "households are not benefiting," Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, also told the AP. “The profit picture is "good news for Wall Street, but not good for workers."

It's official: Las Vegas' Unemployment Rate in June Highest Among Major U.S. Cities

In a #1 ranking no one wants, the Las Vegas Valley topped major U.S. metro regions in unemployment for the second consecutive month, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released this morning.

 

Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a population of 1 million or more, Las Vegas topped the list at 14.5%, the BLS said.

Unemployment rates were lower in June than a year earlier in more than half of the 372 metropolitan areas the bureau ranks. A dozen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15% percent, while 6 areas registered rates below 5.0%. The national unemployment rate in June was 9.6%, not seasonally adjusted, compared with 9.7% a year earlier.

El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., again recorded the highest unemployment rates, 27.6 and 26.4%, respectively. 

Las Vegas was narrowly surpassed by Yuma as the area that registered the largest over-the-year jobless rate increase in June. Yuma's increased 2.9 percentage points, while Las Vegas' was up 2.1 percentage points.

Related Posts

• Once booming Nevada, California and Florida move to end of the line, according to new economic study

• Dubious Distinction Confirmed: Nevada is again #1 in Nation in Unemployment in June 2010

• Nevada breaks unemployment record for 12th consecutive month in June; both state and Las Vegas expected to be at top in national unemployment rankings

Once booming Nevada, California and Florida move to end of the line, according to new economic study

A homeless man in downtown Las Vegas.

Three states that only five years enjoyed historic booms that put them near the top of many national economic rankings - Nevada, California, and Florida - now have the country's weakest economies, according to a midyear review of by business website Portfolio.com and national business periodical publisher bizjournals.

The half-decade has been particularly devastating to my home state of Nevada, which finished #1 in the business publications' mid-year review in 2005, but now is dead last. Its results were only about one-half a percentage point worse than California, which was 11th in 2005, and finished 50th this year. (The District of Columbia is included in the rankings.) Florida was second five years ago and is 49th this year.

Several factors sent all three states to the back of the line, primarily their boom-and-bust real estate sector and dramatic declines in tourism that's been driven by the global Great Recession.

Empty Florida beach chairs

Nevada, California, and Florida have collectively lost 1.69 million jobs since 2005 - or the equivalent of 926 jobs A DAY. All are struggling with double-digit jobless rates. The Silver State again is the worst; its June unemployment rate was 14.2% and the jobless rate of its most-populous city, Las Vegas, was 14.5%. Both were records, and federal figures slated to be released tomorrow will show whether Las Vegas has the worst unemployment among major U.S. cities for the second consecutive month.

Portfolio.com and bizjournals rely on a nine-part formula to analyze state employment trends. It uses U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data over the latest five-year period and zeroes in on raw and percentage changes in private-sector employment, as well as unemployment rates.

Forty states had fewer jobs in May 2010 than five years earlier. The nation lost a total of 4.51 million private-sector positions between mid-2005 and mid-2010.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

The middle of the country and the Northeast have fared best during the Great Recession. Seven of the 10 strongest states gained a total of 485,600 jobs. Their collective unemployment rate was 7.9%, as of May.

The 10 states at the bottom of the standings faced an overall unemployment rate of 11.8% in May. They collectively lost 3.12 million jobs during the five years, or 1,710 jobs A DAY.

For the complete ranking, click here.

Unemployment benefits extended to 99 weeks for jobless Americans

President Barack Obama yesterday signed the bill that extends unemployment benefits for more than 2.5 million jobless Americans. The legislation passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 272-152 earlier in the day.

The bill extends the cut-off for benefits from June 2 to Nov. 30, and unemployed citizens will continue to receive payments for 73 weeks after that, for a total of 99 weeks of unemployment benefit. The new law works in concert with Home Affordable Unemployment Program, which gives qualified homeowners the ability to borrow up to $50,000 to assist them with their mortgage, provided that they have a reasonable prospect of resuming payments within two years.

In states like Pennsylvania and New York, the back payments should go out next week, officials said. In others, like Nevada and North Carolina, it may take a few weeks for all of those eligible to receive benefits.

Thirty-one House Republicans, about one in six, voted for the measure Thursday, while 10 Democrats opposed it. In my home state of Nevada - which had the highest jobless rate in the nation in June, at 14.2%, for the second consecutive month. The Nevada Congressional delegation's support of the measure was unanimous when Republican Congressman Dean Heller crossed party lines and joined Las Vegas-area Congressional Democrats Dina Titus and Shelley Berkley in voting for the measure. Heller was unsuccessful in a bid to introduce an amendment that would have tapped unused economic stimulus funds to pay for the extension. Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign was the only state official to oppose the measure, in the Senate's earlier vote.

Even with an extension to 99 weeks for most unemployed Americans, will it be enough? U.S. economist Lawrence Souza told HousingWire that the current state of unemployment is not going to be solved overnight. "It will be 2015 when full employment is achieved at 95 to 96% of the workforce," he said.

The estimated cost surrounding the legislation is $34 billion, one reason some in Congress were hesitant to vote it through. But Obama argued that the bill had to be funded via deficit spending because it was an emergency measure to protect 9.5% of the United States' population.

For more information about the bill, click here.

Dubious Distinction Confirmed: Nevada is again #1 in Nation in Unemployment in June 2010

It didn't come as much of a surprise to state labor economists, but the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today confirmed that Nevada reported the highest unemployment rate in the country for the second consecutive month, 14.2% in June. The Silver State also recorded the largest jobless rate increase from June 2009, up 2.3 percentage points.

Although Las Vegas’ June rate again surpassed Michigan’s – which before May, had the nation’s highest jobless rate - it won’t be clear whether Sin City again will be #1 in U.S. unemployment among U.S. states and major cities until the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics releases its metropolitan-area unemployment data July 28. 

However, in an email interview yesterday, Jered McDonald, an economist with the Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation, said in an email interview with Examiner.com, “I can tell you, though, that in May, Las Vegas had the highest unemployment rate among the nation's largest metro areas,” he added. “With an increase of four-tenths [of a percent,] to 14.5% in June, Las Vegas will be right up there again.”

In total, 25 states posted jobless rates significantly lower than the U.S. figure of 9.5%, 10 states had measurably higher rates, and 15 states and the District of Columbia had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

The five other states with the next highest rates were Michigan, 13.2%; California, 12.3%; and Rhode Island, 12.0%.

Jobless Benefits Extension Overcomes Critical Senate Obstacle

With exactly the minimum votes needed to overcome the fourth Republican attempt to block a federally financed extension of unemployment benefits, Senate Democrats this afternoon advanced a House bill that will restore the cash payments to millions of jobless Americans.

A final Senate vote is expected later today, with all but certain passage being ratified in the House tomorrow.

Democrats in the Senate moved ahead with the bill after an interim appointee, Carte Goodwin, was sworn in this afternoon to replace the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.V. Goodwin cast the 60th "yes" vote that gave the Democrats its filibuster-proof majority.

Nevada breaks unemployment record for 12th consecutive month in June; both state and Las Vegas expected to be at top in national unemployment rankings

Both my home state of Nevada and home city of Las Vegas reported record unemployment today. Reaching a new record high for the 12th consecutive month, the state's jobless rate ticked up two-tenths of a percentage point, to 14.2%, in June. The Las Vegas rate also jumped four-tens of a percentage point, to 14.5%, state officials announced today.

Although Las Vegas’ June rate again surpassed Michigan’s – which before May, had the nation’s highest jobless rate - it won’t be certain whether both the Silver State and Sin City again  will be #1 in U.S. unemployment among U.S. states and major cities until the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics tomorrow releases state jobless data for the remainder of states that haven’t independently released their data and releases its metropolitan-area data July 28.


But in the gambling capital of the world, odds are that the state and city will achieve the dubious distinctions once more.

Because the three states with the next-highest jobless rates in May all already have released their data, and all went down, “we do suspect Nevada will still have the highest unemployment rate” in the country, Jered McDonald, an economist with the Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation, said in an email interview earlier today.

Where Las Vegas will stand among large cities is more difficult to predict, McDonald added, because data at the metropolitan level is generally more volatile, and their rates are not adjusted for seasonal employment fluctuations the way state data is. “I can tell you, though, that in May, Las Vegas had the highest unemployment rate among the nation's largest metro areas,” he added. “With an increase of four-tenths [of a percent,] to 14.5% in June, Las Vegas will be right up there again.”    

Overreliance on tourism makes state dependent on national recovery

A slight decline in the U.S. unemployment rate in May was a good sign for Nevada because the state is so dependent on tourism spending from other parts of the country, DETR Chief Economist Bill Anderson said in a statement.

“One thing many Nevadans have come to realize during the current recession is that economic forces beyond our borders have the potential to significantly impact performance in the Silver State,” Anderson added. “Along those same lines, policy decisions at the national level can potentially have significant ramifications here in Nevada.”

Lack of unemployment extension adds to pain

Adding to the continuing troubling employment picture in the state, the June expiration of federal unemployment benefits extensions is hurting a growing number of unemployed Nevadans, the DETR said.

To date, nearly 40,000 state residents have exhausted their UI benefits, a number that grew by about 7,300 – or 8.3% – the week of July 10 alone. At an average payment of around $300, the latest drop in unemployment insurance payments eliminated almost $12 million in federal money – in just a single week – dollars that typically flows directly into Nevada's economy, the DETR noted, and benefit scores of businesses people patronize in their everyday lives.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Tuesday on an already passed House bill that would extend federally financed benefits. The Senate has been successful in filibustering the measure three times in the past few weeks, but a new Democratic senator to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) will take place before the fourth vote occurs, which is expected to give the Democrats the filibuster-proof 60 votes needed for passage.