Spokane7
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April 19, 2011 in Business, City
Jobless rate inches upward in Spokane County
March unemployment in Spokane County ticked up slightly to 10.5 percent, up from 10.4 in February, even as jobs increased by 480, Washington’s Employment Security Department said today.
More total people looked for jobs in Spokane County this past month that in February, raising total unemployment, said Doug Tweedy, the regional labor economist for Spokane.
He sees that as a sign of ongoing recovery. “When jobs start increasing, discouraged workers start looking for jobs again,” Tweedy said.
The other data oddity: unemployment in Spokane in March 2010 was 11 percent, but there were almost 500 more people working 12 months ago, state labor data show.
Tweedy said that comes from seasonal impacts. “The weather this past March has slowed outdoor jobs” including construction, landscaping and other areas of the job market, he said.
Spokane construction jobs have grown by 100 from a year ago. Manufacturing jobs, on the other hand, are showing positive momentum.
Spokane’s manufacturing jobs are up by 600 since last fall, from 13,800 in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 14,400 in the first quarter of 2011, Tweedy said.
He said the largest share of that manufacturing growth came from the advanced manufacturing subgroup, which includes composites, rubber, plastics and metal fabrication.
Another sign of modest economic growth was the gain in private employment, said Tweedy.
From fourth quarter 2010, private jobs jumped by 800 in Spokane, he said. Spokane’s government sector jobs dropped by roughly 300 over the same time.
Washington’s statewide jobless rate also rose slightly in March, to 9.2 percent. It remains above the U.S. rate of 8.8 percent.
Garco awarded $35.8 million Joint Base Lewis-McChord contract 
hawken on April 19 at 12:13 p.m.
Oppps! Hasn’t the Obama administration been puffing their chests, taking credit for our smoke screen recovery?
Total unemployment, namely U6 unemployment remains above 15% (15.7% as of the last, official report in March).
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
We have a two year old, depressed economy, chronic unemployment and most recently, have been formally threatened by the S&P of a downgrade in our credit rating. Which of course, will be even more devastating to our depressed economy.
Meanwhile, Obama and gang are “full speed ahead with borrow, tax, spend and print.”
Please. Remind me of what a great job Obama and his gang of Democrats are doing.
Scoutster on April 19 at 12:34 p.m.
Speaker Boehner…
Where are the jobs?
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on April 19 at 12:53 p.m.
“As the job market begins to improve, more of the unemployed begin to actively look for work again, which causes the jobless rate to increase.”
This is just sad. IMHO it’s a flaw in the gov’t’s way of counting the unemployment rate. I guess the government can’t tell the difference between people who quit looking for work because they don’t want to work, and people who want to work but lost hope…. but still.
johnclarke on April 19 at 12:56 p.m.
Hawken, Obama is doing a great job. Now scurry back to class.
McDonald’s jobs available - 50,000
GOP jobs bills - 0
Everyone who voted GOP, are you happy with what your party has accomplished to date? They put a rider on the Budget Bill to let states kills wolves. Other than that, pretty slim eh ? Yeah, there is all that other important stuff like defunding NPR but that didn’t pass.
ManleyPointer on April 19 at 1:13 p.m.
The government cannot legislate the creation of jobs. All the government can (and should) do is promote a business-friendly environment, then get out of the way.
nslopeofw on April 19 at 1:24 p.m.
I’m more happy with the GOP than the dems, but both suck. The Dem budget offering to cut $6 billion was an even bigger sham than the GOPs $60 billion plan. The outcome of $38.5 billion was about $61.5 billion short.
Dazzeetrader11 on April 19 at 1:29 p.m.
Manly, Obama will NEVER understand that. Moreover, he doesn’t care. As long as he controls the output to the media, he’ll say anything and they’ll find a way to a friendly spin.
Facts are that he wants to spend..he likes to spend….when the debt is great enough, he’ll pitch his version of socialism. “we tried everything”!! I can hear it now.
Evidence shows he’s simply out to lunch. GM today has lost all the money we put in via stimulus. %44 below the value assigned to even break even. Government simply cannot manage like a business! it was a loser’s idea then and it’s true to form.loser’s idea now.
Obama will say or do anything to make his moves look good to the media . This filters through in 15 second sound bites….all making him look good. Facts are facts though, no matter what he says, the US is in a downward spiral initiated by too much spending…and bigger debt. S and P knows this and looks at Obama like he’s a baffooon, a pretender of knowledge….and that’s what he is. SImply put.a nice speechmake who can’t manage a dime. Never sign the fron side of a paycheck or make a budget risking his own money. he’s never had a job the public didn’t pay for. 6 month stint as a lawyer and he couldn’t cut it.
Unemployment in Spokane will not be reduced. Verner is an Obama as is Gregoire. Big debt.not much to show for it….except a faltering economy and credit rating. No new industry in Spokane to perk things up. I saw in another thread that Clarkie was delighted with McDonalds….as a sign unemployment would improve. ! HA! Not so fast…….I wonder if Clarkie would like a $10 job and then call it an improvement in anything. This is what’s wrong with Spokane City and County.
No jobs. No economy except trading dollars. Doll the city up with trolleys if you want. No jobs means no jobs. AND it’ll worsen.
greenlibertarian on April 19 at 1:56 p.m.
From fourth quarter 2010, private jobs jumped by 800 in Spokane, he said. Spokane’s government sector jobs dropped by roughly 300 over the same time.
Yet the teabaggers will still be screaming that the government is spending WAY too much, even when government is cutting jobs, as they’re doing locally, state-wide, and nationally, and which saves the taxpayers’ money.
ManleyPointer on April 19 at 2:05 p.m.
I don’t accept the premise that Obama doesn’t “understand” basic economics. I think Obama DOES understand that government cannot function as a job-creator. I think all these politicians, both democrat and republican, understand this. All this talk about “job creation” and “jobs bills” is a bunch of BS intended to mollify the masses, when what the ruling classes really want is to expand their power. I know, that and $1.50 will get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but at least I’m not mollified.
Dazzeetrader11 on April 19 at 2:09 p.m.
Manly…he hasn’t shown it so far. All he’s done is let the government expand by 200,000 (federal jobs) in 2 years.
johnclarke on April 19 at 2:20 p.m.
Need I remind everyone that the #1 employer in the United States is Uncle Sugar with more than 2,800,000 employees. The next runner up is Wal Mart at 1,800,000.
Here are the links to support my point.
http://nyjobsource.com/largestemployers.html
http://www.census.gov/govs/apes/
So when everyone starts shouting about “big gubmint” then those are the employees you are talking about reducing. Good luck. The boom in federal employees really took off after 9/11
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/business/09charts.html
when we expanded Homeland Security and it continues to this day. There are 200 organizations involved in some form of Homeland Security, to what end ? We are no safer than before 9/11. The most powerful military on earth did not stop 9/11.
http://www.consumertraveler.com/today/are-we-safer-the-sprawling-post-911-terrorism-industrial-complex/
johnclarke on April 19 at 2:24 p.m.
Yeah Daisy, that’s rich. Accuse Obama of expanding government. Read the NY Times article above.
ManleyPointer on April 19 at 2:35 p.m.
Are you saying that Obama has not expanded the federal government during his presidency, Mr. Clarke?
And of course there are “government jobs” and in that sense of course government can “create jobs” by expanding the government payroll, but these are nonproductive jobs that rely upon private sector jobs and tax revenue for their existence. Real jobs and real economic growth are created in the private sector, and if these jobs are not created and if there is no real economic growth, the government bureaucracy will collapse under its own weight.
ManleyPointer on April 19 at 2:39 p.m.
I do agree with you, Mr. Clarke, that Homeland Security is an utter joke and an ENORMOUS waste of time and resources. We are not any safer now than we were before 9/11. But if we complain too loudly about it, we’re liable to end up on the “No-Fly List.”
johnclarke on April 19 at 3:00 p.m.
Hell no, he has increased the number of Federal Employees. He is as guilty as charged.
I expect Obama to have the courage to reverse this trend, but I’m prepared to be disappointed.
Although I’m sure the Homeland Employees appreciate the Security, it really has not made a difference. This, and the military is where would should be cutting, but in a wise manner. Let them retire or whatever, just stop filling the jobs. Otherwise, you are adding to the unemployment problem. The government sector is completely and utterly out of control, but who is going to be “unpatriotic” ?
ManleyPointer on April 19 at 3:03 p.m.
I’m willing to be “unpatriotic” if it’s what’s needed to save our country. But it is very unlikely that anyone will ask me.
johnclarke on April 19 at 3:04 p.m.
and your comments are spot on Pointer. Historically, the only time it makes sense to create Gov’t jobs - it’s because no one else is. Profits are at record high in this country, as is productivity. Corporations have figured out how to squeeze us and still line their pockets.
So if they ain’t hiring then yes, it sometimes falls to The Man.
Scoutster on April 19 at 3:09 p.m.
We just have to wait for it all to trickle down…
Not sure what’s trickling down, but we’ve been promised it will all trickle down.
nslopeofw on April 19 at 4:01 p.m.
The free stuff, that is what will trickle down. Free food stamps, free rent, free health care, all of it will trickle down to the masses.
Anyone notice that today Obama’s taxes were out? $1.7million, and he paid $457K in taxes. Looks like he has no problem using those loopholes he is always talking about closing. He paid about 25% of his adjusted income. (for all you bleeders, he also paid SS and FICA) He did give quite a bit to charity, tho. But, the real crime was how little the Biden’s gave to charity. $5K out of $400K+ ? What a cheap POS!
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/daily-money/4-lessons-from-the-obamas-2010-tax-return/2498/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/04/15/president-obama-and-vice-president-biden-s-tax-returns
Seagraf on April 19 at 5:08 p.m.
Wait a minute…just one minute! Our own Cathy McMorris Rogers said her number one priority was “jobs”. But she’s off chasing birth certificates, trying to cut off women’s health screening, tryilng to stop government monitoring of polluters, cutting off education, answering calls from the pharma, insurance, and agribusiness corporations. I guess none of them have time for “jobs”
Just another day in what the Corporate Oligarchy calls “paradise”.
misjustice on April 19 at 6:10 p.m.
If ya want a job you’re going to have to move to India or China; those “emerging markets” are where the jobs are.
zelda on April 19 at 6:13 p.m.
This is from today’s WSJ —
>>General Growth, which owns 169 U.S. malls, intends to jettison many of its laggard malls. The REIT emerged from a 19-month bankruptcy stint in November with new management, new investors and a new balance sheet. Chief Executive Sandeep Mathrani wants GGP to focus on its top 150 malls by selling 19 less lucrative malls. He would then use the proceeds, estimated at more than $2 billion, to pay debts.<<
I wonder where Valley Mall and Northtown fall in General Growth’s ranking of “less lucrative” properties.
Mayocynic1 on April 19 at 6:59 p.m.
I can send trickles your way;) in return though, I want to be tax free. Sound good to you people?
misjustice on April 19 at 8:32 p.m.
Globalization impacts US jobs also:
“And some new jobs data may not help things. The Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.) that during the last decade U.S. multinationals reduced their domestic workforce by 2.9 million, according to Commerce Department figures. During the same period, those same companies increased their overseas workforce by 2.4 million. (Here’s a chart that nicely lays it out.) As recently as the 1990s, things were different: Multinationals were adding jobs both domestically and overseas.”
“Worse, Immelt’s own company may be a case study for the shift. As we’ve reported, the number of workers employed by GE in the United States fell from around 162,000 in 2000 to 134,000 in 2009.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110419/bs_yblog_thelookout/with-jobs-czar-under-fire-new-data-confirm-offshoring-trend
We are competing against workers in emerging markets, in a global jobs auction; think of it as a race to the bottom.
Dazzeetrader11 on April 19 at 8:51 p.m.
J..the bottom is the bottom. Obama said ( like a lot of things he said) he’d get those jobs back by stopping big tax breaks for those corps who shipped the jobs overseas. lolol.
Now that Obama is racing to rid the government of GM ( his fav workerbees) , it’s assured the citizens will lose upwards of $11 billion on his brilliant move (stealing $50 billion from the US taxpayer) to help his union friends out.
He still looks like a genius to you doesn’t he!!:::
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iQ772RYgyZRuijNjN58Syvf8HExw?docId=CNG.862196b5b90a6d3e5734cc272997d1cd.a51
misjustice on April 19 at 9:17 p.m.
Yeah, and if we continued to hold that GM stock you’d bitch about that too; I get it Dazzed, you hate President Barack Hussein Obama. Nothing he ever does will satisfy you. You’re gonna REALLY hate it when he’s re-elected.
; )
detroitdude on April 19 at 9:32 p.m.
Well you know he hasn’t shown us his birth certificate, I think he’s a Muslim, he’s was a community organizer, he’s the worst President on record, he’s black, he’s a socialist…
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on April 19 at 10:51 p.m.
I do sort of love the way they get off on dissing community organizers…
greenlibertarian on April 19 at 11:19 p.m.
U6 unemployment rate has steadily dropped since Obama took office, it’s more than a point below what it was a year ago.
The conservative National Review reports that since the start of the recession (under Bush) and up to Jan. ‘11, the number of federal non-military employees has increased by 98,000, with about half of that under the dying days of the Bush administration, and half under Obama. 65,000 were Homeland Security jobs.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/256225/census-and-growth-federal-government-employment-veronique-de-rugy
lewis8457 on April 20 at 7:00 a.m.
There is a ray of sunshine. As our economy collapses the city, county and state unions will go bust, with no private sector jobs the tax base will not be able to pay their high wages. Same with the feds, they will find they can no longer borrow money and will have to cut back.
I really do not think O’bama is concerned his family made 1.7 million last year.
Shadedmuse on April 21 at 9:47 a.m.
SPokane is a NON growth market. Spokane will always have a high unemployment rate because their are no jobs in Spokane, because Sokane lacks a mass transportation system like other cities, until Spokane builds a mass transportations system of light rail to move people around Spokane will never get any jobs to grow the population, the old saying build it and it will come, if you dont build it, it will never come.
nslopeofw on April 22 at 11:56 p.m.
Perhaps if there are no jobs, instead of going on the gummit dole, these people should move to where there are jobs. Light rail and mass transit are burdens on the folk already working. Mostly used by those on the dole.