Thread: Economy slows, NC unemployment rises - IAs in colleges?

Economy slows, NC unemployment rises
Written by Clayton Henkel

(RALEIGH)--North Carolina's unemployment rate jumped sharply last month to its highest level in nearly five years. Larry Parker with the N.C.Employment Security Commission says as the economy continues to lag, the jobless rate has increased to 6.6 percent. Among the latest companies scaling back: Hatteras Yachts' boat-building.

The company announced this week that more than 300 workers at its plants in New Bern and Edenton would be let go.
http://www.ncnn.com/content/view/3156/26/

My comment: And yet we have libidiots, bleeding hearts, IA advocates and moronic administrators, bureaucrats and politicians wanting to put illegal aliens into our colleges to better educate them to join the LEGAL workforce!

An economic downturn doesn't necessarily mean that illegals will be leaving; they will just wait it out living of the taxpayer's dole, produce more anchor babies, and be the first in line when employers start hiring again.

I suspect just about every state will report higher unemployment rates. We should be emailing these articles to our respective "elected repos." and demanding the sign the discharge petitionf ro the SAVE Act.


Ohio hit hard by job cuts
State's unemployment rate jumps to 16-year high: 7.2%
Saturday, August 16, 2008 3:00 AM
By Steve Wartenberg and Dan Gearino

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Click here to enlarge
Laura Valentine has been out of work seven weeks.

"It's a very scary place to be. I have zero income and a child," said the Columbus resident, an unemployed drug and alcohol counselor.

Valentine is part of a growing trend.

Ohio's unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent last month, the highest level since 1992, according to state figures released yesterday. The rate is up 0.6 percentage point since June and 1.6 percentage points in the past 12 months.

About 11,600 jobs were lost in July, dropping the state job total to about 5.4 million.

The pain was felt in just about every job sector. The greatest losses were in leisure and hospitality services, which shed 3,000 jobs, a sign that hotels and restaurants are having trouble. Retail trade also was way down, with a loss of 1,300 jobs.

The human toll of all these statistics was evident yesterday at the Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corp., an independent agency that offers employment-related services.

Valentine and scores of others filled the office on E. Broad Street, many clutching resumes, some toting their children.

"You have everyone here, low-income to no income, no experience to professionals," said Valentine, who is working on a master's degree in counseling at the University of Dayton Center at Capital University.

Central Ohio's employment health is better than in the rest of the state. According to the Columbus Chamber, the region actually gained 4,000 jobs during the first six months of the year, but the report predicted a loss of 2,800 jobs in the second half.

This is not good news for unemployed workers such as Valentine, who despite skills, education and a good job history may have to accept a lesser job and a lower salary. She was paid $14.50 an hour as a counselor, but she said she is looking at administrative-assistant jobs in the $9- to $10-an-hour range.

"I have 20 resumes out," she said.

Employers are being more selective, requiring more skills and education of prospective workers.

"Jobs that required high-school diplomas now require college degrees or at least some college. The skill sets you need have increased," said Suzanne Coleman- Tolbert, president and chief executive of the workforce corporation.

Vivian Turner, the Urban League's director of career-development services, said her nonprofit agency has had an increase in the number of unemployed seeking help.

The league has traditionally worked with those who lack job skills and don't necessarily have great job histories, but Turner said she now sees more professionals who have been downsized.

"That's making it harder for the clients we traditionally serve. We now have people with degrees and good work histories competing for jobs that historically they wouldn't have considered."

The state's new unemployment figures show that the durable-goods manufacturing sector, which has gotten much of the blame for the overall economic slump in the state, lost 1,000 jobs in July.

However, the long-term decline in the sector meant there were fewer manufacturing jobs to lose. The goods-producing sectors -- which include manufacturing, construction and mining -- accounted for 991,000 jobs, down 2,500 from the previous month.

"They had very specific skills and were making $25 to $30 an hour and got laid off," Coleman-Tolbert said of those who have lost manufacturing jobs. "They've found that those jobs are not that transferable, and they have to take jobs that pay less."

For those wondering when the tide will turn, George Vredeveld, director of the Economics Center for Education and Research at the University of Cincinnati, said the most important number to watch is overall Ohio employment. That number peaked in April at just short of 5.66 million, if agricultural workers are included. The number has dropped to 5.56 million in the three months since, a loss of about 100,000 jobs.

"When you start to see that (employment total) turn around, you'll see the best indication we have of the economy improving," he said.

The job market is slumping right as new college graduates are attempting to enter the workforce. The Ohio Bureau of Labor Market Information said there is no reliable way to know how many recent graduates are seeking jobs, or how many are unable to find work.

But it's clear that this is not a good time to be looking for a job.

swartenberg@dispatch.com

dgearino@dispatch.com

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/lo ... ml?sid=101