This piece of legislation seems an innovative way to turn a negative in a positive: create incentives to encourage those recently unemployed in two of the state’s most important industry — Big Pharma and finance — to become teachers. This would create jobs for people who need them, filling a need in the public schools for science and math teachers.
Tag: economy
A warning to heed
The president doesn’t appear that concerned about criticism of his economic message from Warren Buffett or the concerns raised by Paul Krugman today in The New York Times that the stimulus was too small to have the kind of effect needed — which is unfortunate, given that Krugman’s take on the economy is spot on.
Unemployment: A public-private partnership
I know that, for many, it’s difficult to work up any real sympathy for state workers given their benefits, but the news that the governor is putting mass layoffs on the table is not good for anyone.
Consider that his announcement comes on the same day that job-loss figures for the state were released showing more than 85,000 jobs lost in 2008. Adding 7,000 to that figure can only make things worse.
Bad news but no surprised
This Wall Street Journal story is pretty scary. The gist is that one in five Americans owes more in principal on their mortgage than their house is worth. One in five?!? And that number is likely to grow.
You know, the lefty economist Dean Baker, of the Center for Economic Policy and Research, predicted this mess six or so years ago but no one was listening.
Breaking down the numbers: Unemployment
This map from The New York Times offers some interesting numbers. A county-by-county breakdown of unemployment across the nation, it makes it clear that some areas — parts of California, Michigan and New England, for instance — are getting slammed much harder by the recession than others.
It also offers a snapshot of what is happening locally. According to the map, the Central Jersey region — the seven New Jersey counties covered by our papers — have faired better than some others in the state. Here is what the numbers show:
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Unemployment in Central Jersey
|
County
|
December rate
|
Change from 2007
|
|
Burlington
|
6.1
|
+2.4
|
|
Hunterdon
|
4.7
|
+1.9
|
|
Mercer
|
6.0
|
+2.4
|
|
Middlesex
|
6.1
|
+2.5
|
|
Monmouth
|
6.2
|
+2.6
|
|
Ocean
|
7.9
|
+3.2
|
|
Somerset
|
5.1
|
+2.3
|
What is clear from the chart is that this area is doing better than the rest of the state, which is suffering with a 7.1 percent unemployment rate. The picture in the southern counties of Atlantic (9.6), Cape May (12.4) and Cumberland (10.4) is particularly bad.
Hank Kalet 