Results tagged “unemployment”

The New York Times nailed it this morning when they said "For Americans who wake up each morning thinking about their job hunt, Friday’s unemployment report offered little reassurance that their search would soon pay off, even as the broader economy showed signs of strengthening." That's because nationwide, unemployment in October shot up to 10.2 percent, a 26-year record high. 190,000 jobs were lost with the largest amount found in the construction industry.

Independent business research and analysis organization The Conference Board has released their data for the ratio of job seekers to jobs posted online for the month of September. They found that there "were 5.66 people in the Los Angeles-Orange County metro area looking for jobs in September for every online help-wanted ad," explains the OC Register.

From 11.9 percent in July to 12.2 percent in August, todays announcement of last month's unemployment rate has California breaking records, once again The number rose in 27 states last month, 14 of which that are in double digits. Three other states--Michigan, Nevada and Rhode Island--have higher rates than California. And experts predict that the numbers will continue to increase as the year goes on before they flatline. Nationally, unemployment rose to 9.7 percent in August, a 26-year high. A Job Market Competition index released last month by Indeed.com said Los Angeles ranked 47 out of 50. Ouch.

Although job losses are less, a 9.7 percent rate is the highest for national unemployment since June 1983 when it was at 10.1 percent. "Nonfarm payrolls declined 216,000 last month compared to a revised 276,000 drop in July, the Labor Department said Friday," according to the Wall Street Journal, which notes the news is not as bad as it sounds. "Even though the loss is huge by historical standards, it's an improvement; monthly job cuts earlier in the year totaled as much as 700,000. The economy has lost 7.4 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007."

Ouch. No wonder it's tough to find a job in Los Angeles. July's unemployment numbers for the state are not looking too good. 11.9% is, once again, a record high, according to the LA Times. A few months back in may it was a record breaking 11.5% and then 11.6% in June. California lost 35,800 jobs last month (and 760,000 over the last year), which is more than any other state. That ties us with Oregon at fourth for highest unemployment rate in the country. We're doing just a little better than Michigan, Rhode Island and Nevada.

Los Angeles ranked 47 out of 50 in the Job Market Competition index, according to Indeed.com via the LA Times. That translates to one job posting for eight unemployed people per night. It's a little worse in 48th ranked Riverside where one job is posted for every nine people per night. Unemployment in California keeps breaking records. In June, it reached 11.5% while nationally it hit 9.5%.

Unemployment increased from May to June, but only by one-tenth of a point, or 467,000 lost jobs, a 26-year high. Here's the breakdown: Professional and business services slashed 118,000 jobs, more than double the 48,000 cut in May. Manufacturers cut 136,000, down from 156,000. Construction companies got rid of 79,000 jobs, up from 48,000 the previous month. Retailers eliminated 21,000, up from 17,600. Financial activities cut 27,000, following 30,000 in May. The government cut 52,000 jobs, up from 10,000 the previous month. Leisure and hospitality cut 18,000 jobs, erasing a gain of the same size in May. One of the few industries adding jobs: education and health services, which added 34,000 positions last month and 47,000 in May." Statewide, unemployment numbers have not been calcuated--in May, it was 11.5%.

May's unemployment numbers are the state's highest in modern record keeping, according to the Department of Labor. That's a loss of 69,000 jobs with a majority in the government sector and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to lay off 5,000 state employees in his latest budget plan. Other cuts in that plan would force other government agencies to cut jobs, too. Compared to a year ago May, unemployment was 6.8%. Since then, a total of 885,000 jobs have been lost. Four other states, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina, had higher rates.

Hello highest rate of unemployment in 25 years, up from 8.9% last month. The one thing economists are saying about today's statistics--employers cutting 345,000 jobs in May--is that it's the lowest rate since last September, which could be a sign the recession is making a turn around. A study in April said the Los Angeles-Long Beach region ranks 56 out of 66 for job growth in large U.S. cities. So, who's doing some funemployment these days?

The folks over at Forbes are taking their cues these days from the late rap icon Tupac Shakur as they explain why they selected Los Angeles as their top pick of America's Most Overpriced Cities. But it's not the cost of pimping your gas-guzzling ride, decking yourself out in bling for a red carpet event, or bathing in champagne that makes life here so expensive. It's actually, well, just plain ol' life here that's overpriced, with our "bloated housing prices, lofty living costs and unemployment rates among the highest in the nation."

The Labor Department this morning announced April's unemployment numbers, showing that another 539,000 jobs were lost, upping unemployment nationwide to 8.9%--that's the highest its been since 1983. However, some are drinking the glass half full saying the numbers are better than the anticipated 600,000 lost jobs. Last month, unemployment was at 8.5%. Statewide, April numbers still have not been announced, but last month California's rate broke a record at 11.2%.

And these numbers are expected to continue to rise through the summer. 62,100 jobs were lost last month, pushing the state's unemployment from 10.6% to the current 11.2%, the highest since 1976 when the U.S. Government began keeping records. Over the last year, 637,400 jobs have been lost. The western states represent the worst job loss region with 9.8%, more than a point higher than the national average, which is 8.5%.

13.2 million people are now unemployed after some 663,000 jobs were cut last month. That leaves the national unemployment levels at 8.5%, or at 15.6% if you included underemployment after 423,000 jobs were rolled back from full-time to part-time. In total, that's 9 million jobs that were cut back with employees who desire full-time work. And despite everyone's desire to live the 4-Hour Work Week Tim Ferriss style, the nation's average a 33.2 hours work week is not supporting families. In February, LA County's unemployment rate was at 11% while the state's rate held at 10.5%.

Before the number dips, it's predicted that California will hit a 12% unemployment rate by the end of the year, according to the University of the Pacific per the SacBee. And that number, currently hovering below 11%, will not gain single-digit status until late 2011, they predict. All in all, the state could be looking at nearly one million lost jobs.

It just keeps getting worse. January, unemployment statewide was 10.1%. Today, it's 10.5% and by contrast, it was 6.2% twelve months ago. February was the 11th straight month that the number increased. Last month, we saw over 116,000 go away with most of them, 39,000, in construction.

In an exclusive report, KNX1070 AM is saying that the unemployment rate within the city of Los Angeles is at 20%, according to the LA County Economic Development Corporation. "That includes those unemployed, those who have given up seeking work and those stuck in part time jobs when they want full time ones--and the figure actually tops 20 percent of the available workforce for the city. That means 1 in 5 of the available workforce in the city of Los Angeles is unemployed or under-employed." Apparently, the number is growing too. *"Under-Employment was added to the headline for clarification purposes. Thanks to all who commented, keep the comments coming!

The Official Recession has enveloped us for fifteen official months. It’s still no reason we can’t enjoy life. This is LA -- we have a million inexpensive options! A Recession Obsession is somewhere fantastic, whether times are good or bad, because it's that damn good. We last loved on Leimert Park's Papa West and Santa Monica's Tacos Por Favor. Today, we...

It's official and it's bad. From the LA Times: "The 10.1% jobless rate is the highest since June 1983 and not far below the 11% record set in November 1982 at the worst point of a severe recession, according to the governor's office. Job losses escalated in January, with the state's unemployment rate jumping by 1.4 percentage points from a revised 8.7% for December." How's everyone doing out there?

Job losses continue to make headlines in all parts of the country, including here in Los Angeles. While there is hope that 2009 will show fewer layoffs than 2008, employees of major corporations, and smaller businesses alike in California are still finding themselves out of work, and our unemployment rate is now 9.3%.

Following a report earlier this week that said 164,000 jobs would be lost in the Los Angeles region alone in 2009, the state released its own report today telling us California hit a 9.3% unemployment rate in December. That's almost 1 percentage point more than a month before in November. Save those pennies, it's time to get recessed obsessed. Warner Bros. announced that they will be cutting 800 jobs worldwide on Tuesday.

"L.A. County's jobless rate for November is up from 8.3 percent the previous month - and 5.3 percent in November 2007. Statewide, the rate was 8.4 percent, up from 8.2 percent in October. The national rate is 6.7 percent. The state and local numbers are not great, of course, but they’re not a surprise."

"A new economic forecast predicts the California economy is in for a rough 2009. The quarterly Anderson Forecast from UCLA says unemployment is going to continue to be ugly, with the jobless rate peaking next year at 8.7 percent -- meaning nearly one in 10 workers will be out of work."

A report of how workers feel about the job market indicates that we Californian "workers are becoming increasingly less confident in the job market, economy and in their personal employment situation." The California Employee Confidence Index, released on Friday, has our state-wide points at 50.3, which is both a 2.5 drop, and "the lowest level seen in the history of the survey"--a dubious distinction at best.