|
MAY
(UN)EMPLOYMENT REPORT UNDERMINES DEMOCRAT SPIN ON ECONOMY Private
Sector Continues to Struggle Under Democratic Control of Salem While
Democratic leaders tout expansion, jobs and economic recovery… “We
are seeing business expansion, increased jobs, and clear signs that we have
begun to emerge from the depths of the 2009 recession. Now is not the time to
panic.” (News
Release: Legislature Must Have Specific Plan Before Coming Into Session,
Offices of the House Speaker and Senate President, 6/7/2010) …Reality
Tells a Very Different Story. “Oregon's
economy is stuck in neutral, with employment and unemployment both stalled
and no big industry poised to give the state a shove.” “The
seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 10.6 percent in May,
officials said Tuesday, the same as in March and April -- and essentially
unchanged for seven months. Oregon neither added nor lost payroll jobs last
month, following a revised gain of 5,500 in April. (Oregon
Unemployment Stuck in Neutral, Report Suggests, Richard Read, The
Oregonian, 6/10/2010) Unemployment
Likely to Stay Above 10 Percent... “[State
economist Tom] Potiowsky won’t be surprised if Oregon’s
unemployment rate remains above 10 percent at year’s end. Even as the
labor force has grown, he said, ‘we still have a total employment today
which is slightly less than what we had 10 years ago.’” (Oregon
Unemployment Stuck in Neutral, Report Suggests, Richard Read, The
Oregonian, 6/10/2010) While
total private sector employment is down by nearly 25,000 jobs since May 2009,
government has increased its payroll by 4,700 jobs in that same period. There
are currently 203,000 Oregonians out of work. (Information
from an Oregon Employment Department press release, Oregon’s Employment
Situation: May 2010, 6/15/2010) …as
Hunt’s, Courtney’s expensive “stimulus” plan fell
flat. “State
officials boast more than 7,500 jobs have been “created or
retained” by the 2009 Legislature's trumpeted economic stimulus
package, a feat just shy of the 8,000-plus jobs reported for Oregon under the
far bigger federal stimulus program.” Average
length of a Go Oregon job was about two weeks. Everyone
working on a Go Oregon project was counted as a job, even those who were
already employed and in no danger of being laid off. One
out of four Go Oregon workers was from out of state. Counties
with high unemployment got a smaller share of the money. “An
analysis by The Oregonian shows that, on average, Go Oregon jobs lasted about
two weeks and did little or nothing to dent the state's bleak employment
outlook. It also shows the state counted anyone working on a stimulus-related
project as a job, regardless of whether the worker was already employed and
in no danger of being laid off. |
