SWFLA #1 IN NATION FOR UNEMPLOYMENT IN FEB 2009
(but they don't see the large number of newly registered businesses as I do! You don't need an employer to make money if you're self employed!! -Ken)
Southwest Florida employment drop leads nation
Along with nearby Cape Coral-Fort Myers, the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice market had the dubious distinction of being among communities that have seen the largest annual percentage increases in unemployment for the year ended in February.
The local market saw a 7.6 percentage point rise from February 2007 to February 2008 while the Fort Myers market saw a 9.2 percentage point increase, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday.
Both markets have been hit heavily by the reverberations of the drop in the construction and real estate market.
Overall unemployment in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties shot up to nearly 11 percent during February, with 42,000 people out of work. Individual rates were 11.2 percent in Charlotte, 10.2 percent in Manatee and 10.6 percent in Manatee.
Lee County, home to Cape Coral and Fort Myers, had an unemployment rate of 12 percent in February.
There were places that were worse off: Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. saw a 12.9 percent decline in employment while Yuma, Ariz., saw a 10.9 percent drop.
Elkhart-Goshen’s jobless rate soared to 18 percent, up 12.5 percentage points. The area has been battered by layoffs in the recreational vehicle industry. RV makers Monaco Coach Corp., Keystone RV Co. and Pilgrim International have cut hundreds of jobs.
The unemployment rate in Hickory-Lenoir-Morgantown, hit by layoffs at furniture makers, jumped to 15.7 percent, a 9.3 percentage point increase.
Nationwide, unemployment rates moved higher in all of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. The Labor Department said that all 372 metropolitan areas tracked saw their jobless rates rise in February from a year earlier. Fallout from housing, credit and financial crises — the worst since the 1930s — is forcing companies to lay off workers and resort to other cost-saving measures to survive the recession.
3M Co., the maker of Scotch tape, Post-It Notes and other products, said Tuesday it is cutting another 1,200 jobs, or 1.5 percent of its work force, because of the global economic slump. Fewer than half the jobs will be in the U.S., but include “several hundred” in its home state of Minnesota, a company spokeswoman said. The 1,200 figure includes cuts made earlier in the first quarter.
The U.S. unemployment rate, released last month, rose to 8.1 percent in February, the highest in more than 25 years. Economists predict the national jobless rate will climb to 8.5 percent in March. The government releases that report on Friday. It will probably hit 10 percent by year-end even if the recession were to end later this year, they said.
El-Centro, Calif., continued to lay claim to the highest unemployment rate — 24.5 percent. The jobless rate is notoriously high in the area, where many unemployed are seasonal agriculture workers.
Following close behind were Merced, Calif., with a jobless rate of 19.9 percent, and Yuba City, Calif., at 18.9 percent. Elkhart-Goshen rounded out the top four.
Louisiana’s Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux region had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.5 percent.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession, which began in December 2007, could end this year, setting the stage for a recovery next year only if shaky financial markets are stabilized.
To brace the economy, the Fed has slashed a key bank lending rate to an all-time low and has embarked on a series of radical programs to inject billions of dollars into the financial system.
The Obama administration’s $787 billion stimulus package includes money that will flow to states for public works projects, help them defray budget cuts, extend unemployment benefits and boost food stamp benefits. The administration also is counting on programs to prop up financial companies and reduce home foreclosures to help turn the economy around.
Companies are cutting jobs and other costs to survive the recession. Sales and profits have been hurt as consumers have hunkered down. That’s caused the economy to shrink. Analysts believe the economy will keep on shrinking through the first six months of this year.
44Along with nearby Cape Coral-Fort Myers, the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice market had the dubious distinction of being among communities that have seen the largest annual percentage increases in unemployment for the year ended in February.
The local market saw a 7.6 percentage point rise from February 2007 to February 2008 while the Fort Myers market saw a 9.2 percentage point increase, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday.
Both markets have been hit heavily by the reverberations of the drop in the construction and real estate market.
Overall unemployment in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties shot up to nearly 11 percent during February, with 42,000 people out of work. Individual rates were 11.2 percent in Charlotte, 10.2 percent in Manatee and 10.6 percent in Manatee.
Lee County, home to Cape Coral and Fort Myers, had an unemployment rate of 12 percent in February.
There were places that were worse off: Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. saw a 12.9 percent decline in employment while Yuma, Ariz., saw a 10.9 percent drop.
Elkhart-Goshen’s jobless rate soared to 18 percent, up 12.5 percentage points. The area has been battered by layoffs in the recreational vehicle industry. RV makers Monaco Coach Corp., Keystone RV Co. and Pilgrim International have cut hundreds of jobs.
The unemployment rate in Hickory-Lenoir-Morgantown, hit by layoffs at furniture makers, jumped to 15.7 percent, a 9.3 percentage point increase.
Nationwide, unemployment rates moved higher in all of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. The Labor Department said that all 372 metropolitan areas tracked saw their jobless rates rise in February from a year earlier. Fallout from housing, credit and financial crises — the worst since the 1930s — is forcing companies to lay off workers and resort to other cost-saving measures to survive the recession.
3M Co., the maker of Scotch tape, Post-It Notes and other products, said Tuesday it is cutting another 1,200 jobs, or 1.5 percent of its work force, because of the global economic slump. Fewer than half the jobs will be in the U.S., but include “several hundred” in its home state of Minnesota, a company spokeswoman said. The 1,200 figure includes cuts made earlier in the first quarter.
The U.S. unemployment rate, released last month, rose to 8.1 percent in February, the highest in more than 25 years. Economists predict the national jobless rate will climb to 8.5 percent in March. The government releases that report on Friday. It will probably hit 10 percent by year-end even if the recession were to end later this year, they said.
El-Centro, Calif., continued to lay claim to the highest unemployment rate — 24.5 percent. The jobless rate is notoriously high in the area, where many unemployed are seasonal agriculture workers.
Following close behind were Merced, Calif., with a jobless rate of 19.9 percent, and Yuba City, Calif., at 18.9 percent. Elkhart-Goshen rounded out the top four.
Louisiana’s Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux region had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.5 percent.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession, which began in December 2007, could end this year, setting the stage for a recovery next year only if shaky financial markets are stabilized.
To brace the economy, the Fed has slashed a key bank lending rate to an all-time low and has embarked on a series of radical programs to inject billions of dollars into the financial system.
The Obama administration’s $787 billion stimulus package includes money that will flow to states for public works projects, help them defray budget cuts, extend unemployment benefits and boost food stamp benefits. The administration also is counting on programs to prop up financial companies and reduce home foreclosures to help turn the economy around.
Companies are cutting jobs and other costs to survive the recession. Sales and profits have been hurt as consumers have hunkered down. That’s caused the economy to shrink. Analysts believe the economy will keep on shrinking through the first six months of this year.
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Edited by Udut, Kenneth on Apr. 1 2009
