N.C. unemployment rises to 10.4 percent : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

North Carolina’s unemployment rate jumped to 10.4 percent in August, the third monthly increase in a row and the highest figure in more than a year.

In addition, the share of adults with a job last month fell to a 35-year low.

“The economy is just about dead in the water,” said Don Jud, professor emeritus at UNCG’s Bryan School of Business and Economics. “But I am not willing to conclude that (it) is totally dead.”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that North Carolina was one of 11 states that experienced an increase in its unemployment rate year over year.

In August 2010, the state’s unemployment rate stood at 10.1 percent.

The federal government also said the state’s 0.3 percentage point increase in the jobless rate last month was the second highest in the nation.

Illinois and Pennsylvania saw their jobless rates increase by 0.4 percentage points.

“Over the course of the year, we have been roughly between 9.8 percent and 10.1 percent until this month,” Larry Parker, a spokesman with the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina, said of the state’s unemployment rate. “We have not seen much change.”

The August rate was the highest since June 2010, when 10.5 percent of the labor force didn’t have a job.

“North Carolina remains mired in a severe job crisis — a crisis that only has worsened in recent months,” John Quinterno, a principal with South by North Strategies in Chapel Hill, wrote in his monthly jobs report. “There exist few signs that any recovery is under way.”

In August, Quinterno said, only 55.3 percent of working-age Tar Heels had a job. That’s the lowest total since 1976.
“What this suggests is that there are an awful lot of people whose talents are not being utilized by the labor market,” Quinterno said in an interview. “This is sort of idle human capacity.”

The highest rate ever, Quinterno said, was 66.8 percent, which came during several months in 1989 and 1990.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the state has lost 289,300 positions, or 6.9 percent of its payroll base.
But not all the August numbers portended gloom.

“There is a glimmer of hope,” Jud said.

He pointed out that the state added 16,500 jobs last month, the second-largest increase in the country behind Minnesota, and a 0.4 percent increase.

“That’s a reasonably strong jump for one month,” Jud said.

In August, after three consecutive months of employment declines, Jud feared North Carolina had slipped back into a recession. Now, the latest numbers ease those concerns somewhat.

He also liked the fact that nearly 3,900 of last month’s new jobs came in the professional and business services sector.
“That’s a good omen,” Jud said. “Most of that is small business. We all know that small business is the most dynamic sector of our economy.”

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com

swerdna

September 17, 2011 - 7:54 am EDT

But wait.... we were told if the first stimulus wasn't passed unemployment would rise above 8%! Now, we're getting another dose of stimulus with more TEMPORARY jobs to improve infrastructure. Keyword: "temporary." When the project is finished, the jobs are gone. and those workers are back in the unemployment line! Yep, "change" we can count on.

rightwingnemesis

September 17, 2011 - 10:00 am EDT

N.C. Republicans called a special session this week---surely that was to help with getting jobs?

No, they ran on a jobs platform and then showed their true colors by calling a $55,000/day special session to discuss gay people marrying.

goodtoknow

September 17, 2011 - 10:53 am EDT

The stimulus did save one job. Michelle Obama's brother, basketball coach of Oregan State University, was about to lose his job. Seventeen million dollars was sent to Oregon State and Coach Robinson's job was saved.

September 17, 2011 - 11:04 am EDT

Also, from the stimulus, 19 Billion dollars of 39 billion dollars has been spent on Green Jobs. It created about 3500 jobs at a cost of 5.4 million dollars per job. Now, everyone knows that each of those jobs did not give a salary of 5.4 million dollars. It just shows the waste of it. Solyndra and other green companies are going under even after the stimulus. The Green jobs are in China. Along with corruption and wasted Green jobs money the stimulus was wasted.

Get the government out of private business, including health care. Government run health care has been proven a failure all over the world, so why should we be forced to have it. It's a product of Fabian Socialism. This country does not need a Socialist Party...The Democrats ARE the Socialist Party.

September 17, 2011 - 11:42 am EDT

A far cry from the year obama and friends spent on obamacare while the economy was going down the tubes.

The_Doctor

September 17, 2011 - 12:14 pm EDT

I agree that the legislature's focus on "gay marriage" demonstrates a lack of perspective and a poor set of priorities. We have several more urgent and pressing issues facing the state. On the other hand, nationally, the Left wing is making "gay marriage" a top priority as well, so it's not altogether surprising that the issue has assumed importance in th NC legislature.

rmacz

September 18, 2011 - 12:04 pm EDT

$55,000.00 a day was cheep....ha!

Now we will be blessed for it!

UNCGProf

September 17, 2011 - 8:41 am EDT

hrm, what happened In August that would have caused our unemployment rate to shoot up by .3%?? Let me think...something about budgets, schools, massive cuts and layoffs....what could it be? Thanks state republicans! Your plan to completely destroy the middle class is working!

September 17, 2011 - 9:21 am EDT

Surey, "professor," you have more brains and knowledge than to chalk it all up to those wascally Wepubwicans. The economy is a highly complex and dynamic thing, and the continued rise in unemployment has multiple causes. Please calm your emotions, "professor," and when you're ready to be rational, take another shot at it. Schools and government budgets are not the only factors to consider. Anyone who is truly educated AND intellectually honest would know that. Maybe we should all point a finger at faculty salaries/benefits at UNCG as the only cause for your school's dire financial situation; it would be about as accurate as the flimsy case you made here.

September 17, 2011 - 10:22 am EDT

Yes, and to add insult to injury they wasted enough money in three days to hire five teachers for a year! For what purpose you ask? In a cynical ploy to get the GOP base (homophobes & bigots) to turn out.
The GOP is out of touch with reality. If you are not a billionaire and you don't hate gay people, why would you ever be a Republican?

September 17, 2011 - 12:08 pm EDT

Your comment is full of hate and anger, and your "analysis" is nothing but false generalizations and woefull exaggerations. I'm a Democrat, but I still won't look at everything through a totally partisan lens, especially one based on hate and anger, like you. Your username betrays your mindset; your whole mindset is mired in the simplistic "Democrat good, Republican bad" paradigm. You should have outgrown that by the time you graduated high school.

September 17, 2011 - 10:56 am EDT

you mean the faculty salaries that are far below regional and national standards, even accounting for the difference in cost of living? You mean the faculty at UNCG who have not gotten a raise in 4 years now, and have been told it will be at least another 3 at the least until they might get one? North Carolina public schools have laid off over 6000 people and eliminated 16,000 positions over the last 3 years due to budget cuts. The UNC system laid off 3000 people and eliminated 2,000 additional positions due to the budget cuts this year. You think that's not having an impact on unemployment rates in NC? Sure, there are plenty of jobs being eliminated out of the education sector too- when 9,000 people are out of a job and 18,000 jobs that might have been, arn't, that's a lot of people who don't have money to spend on goods and services. And 70% of our GDP is based on consumer spending. That professory enough for ya? ;)

September 17, 2011 - 12:05 pm EDT

Once again, your emotions have gotten the better of you. I said that to blame UNCG's budget woes on one factor (like faculty costs) is absurd. Apparently you agree with me on that. But you still want to stick to your same basic, yet flawed, argument that NC's unemployment problems rest solely with one political party in the state capital and in one area, education. It's a big, dynamic, complex economy out there, "professor," and you're ignoring that fact and focusing entirely on one aspect.

Furthermore, I never said education cuts had NO impact; apparently you need to develop some reading comprehesion skills, professor; do they offer remedial reading courses at UNCG these days? I'm still not impressed with your argument because it's limited to one aspect and fully immersed in partisanship. I may be a Democrat, but I don't drink anyone's koolaid. From one PhD to another, please don't let your emotions rule your reason.

September 17, 2011 - 12:22 pm EDT

when did I say I was a democrat? I don't think either party has our best interests in mind, they are pretty much all in the picket of big business, but this education budget cut that the republicans are responsible for is the worst thing they could have done, and it has resulted in massive layoffs that has worsened our employment rate, "doctor."

September 17, 2011 - 12:34 pm EDT

I didn't say anywhere that you were a registered Democrat. Again, poor reading skills on your part. I did say you were approaching the question from a purely partisan and a very limited perspective. Also, let me add that as a professor, you should know when to capitalize proper nouns; it's Democrat, not democrat; it's Republican, not republican. There is a big denotative difference between Democrats and democrats, and Republicans and republicans. Educated people pay attention to those kinds of details, but I will chalk it up to hastiness on your part rather than ignorance.

Finally, you are now at least showing some semblence of analysis in your latest post. BUT, the latest state unemployment figures show the number rising by over 12,000 between July and August, and by your own admission, education-related redundancies account for only a fraction of this total. All I am cautioning you to do is to account for the wide variety of factors and variables rather than fixating on a single cause, and to drop the emotionalism in favor of a more reasoned approach.

justified

September 18, 2011 - 1:02 pm EDT

UNCGProf
You must be a sports coach.
By your post here my unemployment check says you are no English Professor.

NRay

September 17, 2011 - 9:12 am EDT

Hooverism redux. If you gaze upon our economic landscape with a squint, it all looks so1930's. Unfortunately, increased unemployment is one of the effects of our Republican-imposed "austerity". While North Carolina remained in the grips of recession, our new Republican legislature made thousands of public employees redundant. How utterly predictable that our unemployment rate is now spiking up. And we had the second highest increase in the country? We might have taken another "Number-One had we only not had a Democratic governor to slow down the wise cutters now occupying seats in our legislature. Oh well, I suppose that, as with the benefits we were already enjoying from years of Trickle-Down Economics, we will ultimately, some day, see some economic benefits from our new austerity. Won't we? Right??

September 17, 2011 - 9:22 am EDT

NR, my comment to UNCGprof also applies to you. Cut the partisan nonsense and widen your vision. There are plenty of reasons for unemployment's continued upward push here and nationally.

johnodrake

September 17, 2011 - 9:26 am EDT

True and most have to do with regulation.

September 18, 2011 - 12:11 pm EDT

The truth is, there was 16 years of The Great Depression under The New Deal, and there is no end in sight for The Great Recession under Hope and Change....and stupid is what stupid does....ha!

soapyjohnson

September 17, 2011 - 12:33 pm EDT

How bad is it? The Chinese now using fortune cookies to further discourage Americans in these tough economic times ... http://placeitonluckydan.com/2011/07/recession-fortune-cookies/

attorney

September 17, 2011 - 1:41 pm EDT

I posted a comment earlier and it was the 2nd one on the list and it has been removed. WHY? This sight dosn't want you to read the truth of what is really going on or are they afraid the truth might let people see what is really going on. All the people out of work and out of unemployment benefits and can't find jobs and don't quallify for social service help will eventually take things into their own hands out of desperation and take from those who do have money such as robbing banks, senior citizens and possibly go after the polititions and their children and possibly hold them for ransom.You polititions better get money into these desperate peoples hands soon or your possibly going to see a revolt against the government just as we have seen happening in other countries, such as Libya, and we're not far from that. You may laugh about about this comment now, but farther on up the road your gonna be crying. More stimulous checks are needed for these people or your possibly gonna have more to worry about than "FLASH MOBS", as we've seen already because people are going to survive at all cost to provide for theirselves, and you polititions, do you know where your children are because they are surly not untouchable. This is just a nickle,s worth of free advice and hope you take it seriously because it,s as clear as the nose on your face,
Sincerely, A True American Patriot, that can see the BIG PICTURE.

September 17, 2011 - 2:14 pm EDT

The NR censor (ie. General Greensboro) frequently deletes posts that stray from the specific article subject even slightly. For instance, in your above post, you generally discussed possible social side-effects of the continuing unemployment problem; GG can easily make the case that you did not address the specific issue of the incremental increase in unemployment in NC last month, and....ZAP....it's gone. You are generally more restricted here than in other newspaper sites when it comes to subject matter, but it's their ballgame, and we have to abide by their decisions. General Greensboro, can you back me up on this?

melissa.melissa

September 17, 2011 - 2:18 pm EDT

I do see the BIG PICTURE and you are absolutely right. I,m not laughing at your comment and whoever can't see what your saying is the truth, then they are walking around with blinders on, and whoever can't see what's going on, also beleives that if they shut their eyes the problem is gonna go away. Their a bunch of Idiots and have too much faith in all our corrupt government officials.

September 17, 2011 - 5:10 pm EDT

Don't get me wrong, I sympathize with the people who have lost their jobs and honestly can't find another. I've been there. I also understand your point about people surviving one way or another. But you see the solution as anyone and everyone who isn't working and have no means to support themselves receiving government help for as long as they are out of work? If someone can live on this amount of money, then is there incentive to find work if they can continue to draw for an infinite period? If someone can't live on the amount of money, won't they still possibly resort to your predicted means to survive? Endless unemployment benefits will only contribute to increasing the welfare state and give government more and more control over people. That, to me, is the BIG PICTURE!

September 17, 2011 - 6:34 pm EDT

Swerda, I know some people are using the system, especially the ones that haven't paid one penny into it and keep popping babies out so they can get more from it and to stay on it. I've paid in for 47 years and have desperately been looking for work and sending resumes every day and never been on welfare and raised my children and their not on welfare. They have jobs and are living productive lives and paying into a system, that by the time their old enough to retire there will be nothing left in the system for them because of all the intruders that have came here and play dumb to the facts at our employment and social service offices to get all the freebies they can, but can you blame them when our system lets them do it. You are right about people living off of welfare and it isn't right, but the system needs to be fixed. The ones that really do need it and deserve it are hurt by the sorry ones that are misusing it, and are the ones that have a permanent ticket for the GRAVY TRAIN. The unemployment rate is 10.4% and people with alot more college degrees than me can't even find a job, not even at minimun wage. There is going to be a Revolution, it's inebitable. Sincerely, Proud American Patriot.

sickandtired

September 18, 2011 - 7:00 am EDT

He is right. There are plenty of older workers who can't find jobs and can't get help. I don't know the secret for getting these free things but I would share it with some hard working people whose companies have closed. I agree that I have paid into the system my whole life and won't see anything. I will say again that I don't care about fault. I only wish for a solution for people who want to work. And no, there are not jobs out there for anyone who truly wants to work. People who say that have jobs. I only got one through a connection. My resumes did nothing for me.

September 18, 2011 - 3:03 pm EDT

Attorney, on the whole, I agree with you! I can't see the "flash mob" mentality being the last ditch effort for most, but I have no doubt it will come to this with some which is exactly why everyone should already have plans in place to defend what is theirs.

I also can very well relate to the age issue. When I said I'd been there, I really meant I'd been there! 2 weeks after a joint replacement, I was laid off from my job of 13 years. It was a company owned by what I thought were my best friends. I spent months job hunting with hospital bills looming over my head. All replied with the same thing: "You're over-qualified." My response was "I don't have a job and I need a job in which to stay for the next 15 years until I retire (because money wasn't such an issue). That makes me qualified." I have a college degree and experience. For the most part, I know many of the rejections were because of my age. But I made job hunting a full-time job in itself and finally got the job I have held now for 8 years. I well remember the hurt of rejection. I well remember the frustration. I well remember the feeling of no self-worth.

Yes, the system desperately needs fixing! The "users" need to be cut off so the honest-to-goodness "needers" can be helped. But the system needs to be equipped with a means of making sure the "needers" are honestly trying and that they, also, don't become "users."

General Greensboro

September 18, 2011 - 9:24 am EDT

@ attorney: I didn't delete any posts of yours in this thread. Maybe someone else here did. It's possible a tech problem here or on your end swallowed it up. Did you ever consider this?

@ Doc: Try to stay on topic. It's one of the House Rules in the link at the top of the page, above the comments. N&R moderation and your perception of what's on topic or not is by definition not on topic unless the topic is ... N&R comment moderation. This particular topic is unemployment, and attorney's comment, as odd as it is, is on topic.

September 18, 2011 - 10:56 am EDT

GG: I was only responding to the inquiriy made by "attorney." The "attorney" wanted to know why his posts were deleted, and I suggested that perhaps his posts were not "on topic." I believe that I correctly stated that staying "on topic" is a rule here, and that the NR has the power to decide what is on topic and what is not. Am I wrong on that principle? If I am, please explain, because I would like to be correct on this. Perhaps I boxed you in a bit too rigidly, but I do believe the general principle of staying "on topic" is central to the NR rules, and straying from an article's topic is reason to have the post deleted.

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