The Virginian-Pilot
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Most states, including Virginia, saw their unemployment rates climb slightly in June from the previous month, according to data released Friday by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Virginia’s jobless rate rose to 7.2 percent from 7 percent in May. The June rate jumped from 3.9 percent in June 2008, the bureau’s data shows.
William F. Mezger, chief economist for the Virginia Employment Commission’s economic information services division, attributed the June increase to an influx of teenagers unable to find work because of the sluggish economy.
“With the high schools letting out in June, you have the high school students coming into the labor market,” he said, “and they’re coming into the worst summer labor market since the ’81-’82 recession.”
Data for Hampton Roads is yet to be released, but Mezger expected the local unemployment rates to mirror those of the state and inch up.
The state lost 22,800 jobs between May and June, the labor bureau reported.
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Another Green Shoot!
We are on the roll with all these Green Shoots, the improvement is just overwhelming!!! (sarcasm off). By the way, I see alot of vacant commercial real estate around the area. Do we have the next crisis evolving???
But Obama said the economy
But Obama said the economy is getting better...Yea, right! I just hope that everybody remembers all the lies that this guy and the rest of the democrats have stated in the past 2 years when the next elections roll around in '10 and '12.
Maybe you missed it too
The unemployment rate jumped from 3.9% last June to 6.4% this Jan. Since Obama took office, the unemployment rate rose to 6.6% in Apr. before the summer influx of HS students looking for work brought the rate to 7.2%. Looking at the past 8 years, the only years where the summer rise in unemployment was not followed by a fall drop was in 2001 (after 9/11) and last year with the financial crisis. So, I wouldn't get too excited yet, since elections tend to be held in November, not August. But, I guess you could always root for the numbers to keep getting worse. The Germans have a word for that - schadenfreude.
Buyer's remorse
Is this the "change" you voted for? Do you think that spending the nation into bankruptcy to take ownership of car dealers, banks, and healthcare is really going to solve your problems? Virginia unemployment was extremely low the entire time President Bush was in office. Can you say the same for Obama? Will government taxation and ownership (can you spell s-o-c-i-a-l-i-s-m) is going to result in businesses and small business owners replacing these lost jobs? Do you think that you will get everything handed to you on a plate? Think about this when you vote in November.
Maybe you missed it
GM is out of bankruptcy in record time, BofA and Citi are both making money again, and many banks have begun repaying the TARP money they received. Many economists are predicting that we have hit the bottom, and since unemployment is a lagging indicator, we should see unemployment numbers slow down (which they have since Jan.) before they turn around. VA has been insulated from the recession by the military and govt. employers, and I suspect it will be one of the earlier states to come out of the recession. VA unemployment rate in Jan. 01 was 2.6%, but rose from 2.9% to 6.4% in Pres. Bush's last 16 mos. I'd be pretty surprised if the current rate in VA more than doubles to over 12% in the next 16 mos. to match that, but if it does I'm sure there will be many new members of Congress.
What else was different in
What else was different in the last 16 months of Bush's administration? Reid and Pelosi were doing everything they could to undermine Bush in Congress. You want to keep blaming Bush for this, but in reality, it was the democrats that caused the whole mess and it is only going to get worse, until they are voted back to the minority status.
No need to be defensive
I simply stated a fact about the rise in unemployment under Pres. Bush, but nowhere did I say it was all his fault. He clearly had help, though I am not really in the mood to assign blame. That time is past, and now is the time to work towards building a stronger nation. I agree that the pendulum could easily swing back the other way as it did in 1994, but I think it would be wise to give the Pres. and Congress the benefit of allowing their programs to take effect before we call them failures or not. Nov. '10 is still a ways off, and as I said, I suspect our unemployment rate will be lower then than it was when Obama took office. Would it make a difference to you if it was, or do you always vote by party, not results?