Saturday, December 18, 2010

Oregon Unemployment Climbs Again

Oregon is now tied with South Carolina for 6th worst unemployment rate in the nation.

Despite adding 4/10ths of a percent in jobs in November, Oregon unemployment rose a tenth of a percent from October.

Here's Oregon's 2010 unemployment figures through November according to Bureau of Labor Statistics reports:

January - 10.7%
February - 10.5%
March - 10.6%
April - 10.6%
May - 10.6%
June - 10.5%
July - 10.6%
August - 10.6%
September - 10.5%
October - 10.5%
November - 10.6%

The only good news overall was that November 2010 unemployment was a tenth of a percent better than November 2009 unemployment (10.7%).

In terms of unemployment in other states, Oregon rose from 7th worst state in October to a tie for 6th worst state in November. Again, 43 states are doing better in employing their labor force than Oregon.

The national unemployment average in November was 9.8%.

2 comments:

OregonGuy said...

I think a re-assesment in the way we view unemployment is in order; that is, we should view those without jobs as "furloughed" in a policy effort to achieve social justice. There are still too many people in Oregon whose wealth exceeds that necessary for a social-norming goal of smaller homes, more efficient automobiles, greater investing in Green Technologies, light-rail and recycling. These "wealthy" people, who are actually exploiters of the poor, still have more than is necessary for living in a world where social justice reigns. This presents an opportunity for us to increase the taxes we impose on these exploiters, in order to assure that those furloughed workers receive much needed assistance for housing, food and clothing.

What you call unemployed are nothing more than the vanguard for social action. Heroes, really. I think we need to re-think the way we refer to people who choose to do the heroic things necessary to achieve social justice.

Really, it is simply science.
.

T. D. said...

Have you forwarded this idea to Gov-elect Kitzhaber? It might be helpful as he struggles to deny the relevance of Gov. Gregoire type cuts.

Thanks for the comment, OG.