South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Around The Dial – September 9, 2011

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• The New York Times reports on the future of the postal service.
• Fed Watch has answers to your economic questions.
• E.J. Dionne wonders about “the last Labor Day.”
• The Charlotte Observer notes that NC’s economy is moving the wrong way.
• The PBS NewsHour reports on “a tough year for [organized] labor.”
• David Leonhardt see the US on “the verge of a double dip recession.”

The European Debt Crisis: Lego Version

Felix Salmon points out a recent effort by analysts at JP Morgan to explain the European debt crisis with Legos.

A Tale Of Two Economies

The New York Times recently illustrated several economic trends between 1947 and the present and compared how they unfolded in two radically different periods: 1947-79 and 1980-present.

Around The Dial – September 8, 2011

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• Arindrajit Dube runs down the latest research on the minimum wage.
• Robert Reich explains why inequality matters.
• Nancy Folbre argues for public job creation.
• McClatchy Newspapers reports on long-term unemployment.
• Bruce Bartlett doesn’t think Democrats should play by GOP rules.

NC Unemployment Claims: Week of 8/20/11

For the benefit week ending on August 20, 2011,  9,481 North Carolinians filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits, and 105,076 individuals applied for state-funded continuing benefits. Compared to the prior week, there were fewer initial and fewer continuing claims. These figures come from data released by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Averaging new and continuing claims over a four-week period — a process that helps adjust for seasonal fluctuations and better illustrates trends — shows that an average of 10,654 initial claims were filed over the previous four weeks, along with an average of 108,206 continuing claims. Compared to the previous four-week period, the averages of initial and continuing claims were lower.

One year ago, the four-week average for initial claims stood at 12,690 and the four-week average of continuing claims equaled 130,629.

While the number of claims has dropped over the past year so has covered employment. Last week, covered employment totaled 3.7 million, down from 3.8 million a year ago.

The graph shows the changes in unemployment insurance claims (as a share of covered employment) in North Carolina since the recession’s start in December 2007.

Both new and continuing claims appear to have peaked for this cycle, and the four-week averages of new and continuing claims have fallen considerably. Yet continuing claims remain at an elevated level, which suggests that unemployed individuals are finding it difficult to find new positions.