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West Virginia Unemployment May 2009

by: Clem Guttata

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 15:50:31 PM EDT

May 2009 unemployment figures announced. Here are the numbers for West Virginia:

LABOR FORCE DATA                                                                                                        LABOR FORCE DATA
NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED                                                                                          NOT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED

Table 1. Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and metropolitan area

(Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                      Unemployed                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                 Civilian labor force                                                                   
                                                                                                                                        
             State and area                                                                 Number                Percent of labor force
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                               April              May              April              May           April        May    
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                           2008     2009     2008     2009p    2008     2009     2008     2009p   2008  2009  2008 2009p


West Virginia...........................    810.1    793.0    813.2    796.0     33.6     62.8     33.9     67.7   4.1   7.9   4.2   8.5
  Charleston............................    140.7    137.2    140.6    137.5      5.0      9.4      5.0     10.3   3.6   6.9   3.6   7.5
  Huntington-Ashland....................    132.2    131.4    132.3    132.4      5.8      9.7      6.5     10.6   4.4   7.4   4.9   8.0
  Morgantown............................     63.7     62.2     64.6     62.5      1.8      3.1      1.9      3.4   2.8   4.9   2.9   5.4
  Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna...........     79.6     79.4     79.8     79.5      3.6      7.4      3.7      7.5   4.5   9.3   4.7   9.5
  Wheeling..............................     69.0     68.6     69.0     68.5      3.3      5.9      3.3      5.9   4.8   8.6   4.8   8.6

For all of West Virginia, 3,000 people joined the civilian labor force (May 2009 projected of 796,000 less April 2009 of 793,000) and the number unemployed rose 4,900 from 62,800 to 67,700.

Charleston (+ 0.6%), Huntington-Ashland (+ 0.6%) and Morgantown (+ 0.5%) all saw large single-month increases in unemployment--pacing the state overall gain of 0.6% to 8.5% unemployment.

The already hard-hit areas of Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna (0.2%) and Wheeling (unchanged) saw relatively small changes in unemployment compared to the rest of the state.

Clem Guttata :: West Virginia Unemployment May 2009

Tags: labor, Unemployment, economy, West Virginia, (All Tags)

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West Virginia Unemployment May 2009 | 4 comments

Hard to write (4.00 / 1)

It's hard to write a diary like this without thinking about how the last stimulus bill was watered down by Republicans (and Blue Dogs). They insisted on including economically inefficient tax cuts instead of more money on the things the Congressional Budget Office said would help the economy more (e.g., direct grants to states, extended unemployment benefits).

I'm also reminded that Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) joined in the unanimous Republican vote against the stimulus bill. When she meets an unemployed West Virginian, can she says she did everything possible to help them out?

by: Clem Guttata @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 19:55:30 PM UTC

& the GOP was most opposed to unemployment benefits (4.00 / 1)

everyone needs to remember that the GOP Governors who wanted to turn away stimulus money wanted to dump the unemployment benefits the most. how callous!

No one wants to hear it, BUT the stimulus won't really kick in for 3-6+ more months. I do think the Obama Admin screwed up by raising expectations of the stimulus a little too much. The media and GOP has a short attention span and little patience. The four months since passage is nothing in economic terms, especially when so little of the $$$ has been spent. This train will come roaring back

by: jcsaunders @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 20:07:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

indeed, and... (4.00 / 1)

Here's an interesting diary on that from Drum Major Institute: http://www.openleft.com/diary/14013/we-could-get-the-third-stimulus-wrong

by: Clem Guttata @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 20:10:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

10% to fix AMT--thanks, Sen. Grassley (0.00 / 0)

of the 90% left about half of that was not the immediate "shovel ready" money that people were expecting. it's hard to explain that traditional economic thought was that Fed stuff had 3-6 months lead time, and that policy out of Congress was not expected to kick in for 12-18 months.

that's 24/7 for ya. the media is now all pissed at obama town hall format. i do not remember a peep from the dick whisperers for eight years. this is sad. WaPo traded froomkin for kristol, now sells access and gets caught.

when did political parties put in the primary system? do you think it is time for TradMed to start providing information to the people who get their product thrown at their windows each morning?

NFTT: Support My Team or I Will Dance

by: CA Berkeley WV @ Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 20:23:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

West Virginia Unemployment May 2009 | 4 comments

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