All States Are Suffering From Job Losses

A report issued by the Labor Department yesterday indicated that unemployment rose in every single state in December. When oil was still near record highs a few months ago, at least the big energy-producing areas were doing well, but now they are suffering like everyone else. This goes to show you that no area is being spared from economic turmoil. The states that lead the housing boom—such as California, Nevada and Florida—were the first ones to really feel the pain from the downturn. One would think that because they led the downturn they might also lead the rebound, but if that is the case then we still have more pain coming because things are still going from bad to worse in those states. According to the Wall Street Journal, California saw an increase in unemployment of 0.9 percent in November and December, while Florida and Nevada saw increases of 0.7 percent and 1.0 percent respectively.

The last 4 months of 2008 were especially bad. Around 2 million jobs were eliminated from September 2008 to the end of the year. Then on Monday this week—now dubbed “Black Monday”—over 70,000 jobs were cut on a single day. So when is the carnage going to end?

Certainly the new stimulus package won’t hurt the employment outlook, with early projections estimating that the bill will create or save around 4 million jobs, according to the Associated Press. The bill is being reviewed by the House and it is expected to be passed later in the day according to the Wall Street Journal. After passing the House, the bill will then make its way to the Senate. There is still some lobbying to change parts of the bill, but it is widely expected that it will pass in one form or another and arrive on the President’s desk within the next few weeks.

It remains questionable at best whether the bill will work as planned. This current economic environment is different than anything we have ever seen before, and we are really just guessing on the true impact of these initiatives. Will $825 billion be enough? Is the money being allocated to the appropriate places? Will borrowing the money to finance the programs cause problems in the debt markets? These are just a few of the many questions that lawmakers are trying to answer. The truth is, though, that no one knows the answer. They can make educated guesses at best. Let’s just hope that Obama knows what he is doing...and wishing for a little luck won’t hurt either.