Saturday, June 20, 2009
More than one-quarter of American states now have unemployment rates higher than 10 percent, and all but two saw a further job-market deterioration in May.
Tennessee and Indiana joined the rank of states, now 13, that have jobless rates exceeding 10 percent, and eight states - - including California, Florida and Georgia -- reached their highest level of joblessness in May since records began in 1976, the Labor Department reported today in Washington.
The figures make it likely President Barack Obama, whose home state of Illinois also passed 10 percent for the first time since 1983, was correct this week in forecasting the national unemployment rate will reach that level this year. With no region escaping the rout, consumers across the country will probably curtail their spending, preventing any boom out of the deepest recession in half a century, analysts said.
“It’s tough everywhere,” said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Nobody’s really been spared.” The biggest increases in unemployment will be in states most dependent on manufacturing, construction and financial services, he said.
For the country, “unless hiring magically picks up, a 10 percent unemployment rate is pretty much baked in,” Vitner said.
(Bloomberg)
More than one-quarter of American states now have unemployment rates higher than 10 percent, and all but two saw a further job-market deterioration in May.
Tennessee and Indiana joined the rank of states, now 13, that have jobless rates exceeding 10 percent, and eight states - - including California, Florida and Georgia -- reached their highest level of joblessness in May since records began in 1976, the Labor Department reported today in Washington.
The figures make it likely President Barack Obama, whose home state of Illinois also passed 10 percent for the first time since 1983, was correct this week in forecasting the national unemployment rate will reach that level this year. With no region escaping the rout, consumers across the country will probably curtail their spending, preventing any boom out of the deepest recession in half a century, analysts said.
“It’s tough everywhere,” said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Nobody’s really been spared.” The biggest increases in unemployment will be in states most dependent on manufacturing, construction and financial services, he said.
For the country, “unless hiring magically picks up, a 10 percent unemployment rate is pretty much baked in,” Vitner said.
(Bloomberg)
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