How's your local economy?
The ClubHouse: Archives: How's your local economy?
Oregonfire | Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 09:58 am   Hi folks. I just found out yesterday that Oregon has the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. (around 7%). This news, which I had already suspected, is troublesome for obvious reasons. President Bush was in Portland yesterday promising tax cuts, but some feel that these are for the benefit of large corporations and ignore the little guy. How is your local economy? I think the jobs mainly being cut here are tech jobs (a nationwide trend), and also my field is currently experiencing a statewide budget shortfall. I also heard on the news that murder rates are going up, which is related to the poor economy, as some young men turn to crime when there are no jobs for them. Do you think the tax cuts are enough? What else can be done to stimulate the economy? I, for one, whould like to see the federal minimum wage ($5.15/hour, shockingly low) go up; it's been way too low for years, and now a new class of "homeless but employed" have been created, as rents rise, but salaries do not. (Time magazine, "A New Kind of Homeless," Dec. 31st 2001). I realize that if the minimum wage goes up, then many small business owners would either cuts jobs further to make ends meet, or go under completely. But hard workers deserve a roof over their heads, especially one that they can at least pay rent for and retain some semblance of autonomy; a home is not a luxury item. As always, I want to hear your input! |
Backhome | Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 05:21 pm   Our local economy is in a slow recovery after Fruit of the Loom closed its factory here and moved to the land of cheaper labor after NAFTA was signed. To a community where one factory was the major employer, the loss of 4000 jobs was an incredible blow. We have an industrial development group that has been instrumental in bringing several small factories into the area but they've got a long way to go to make up the employment shortfall that currently exists. In my opinion, the only way to truly stimulate the economy would be to repeal NAFTA and any other "free trade" agreements and start creating jobs back here in the USA. Tax cuts only benefit those at the top of the income bracket -- I've never seen one that created much of a benefit to the middle class. |
Twiggyish | Wednesday, January 09, 2002 - 02:17 pm   I found this website which I thought would give you a good indication of the nation. It compares any two cities in the US. The stats give everything from housing to climate information. This info includes economy. http://www.bestplaces.net/html/citycompare.asp |
Grooch | Friday, January 11, 2002 - 07:22 am   Just about everyone I know is in the airline business one way or another, and it goes without saying that the industry really sucks right now. If you haven't been laid off yet, you are hoping that you won't be. Who knows how long this will last. Plus there is the ripple effect of all these people who are no longer working,they are not putting any of their money into the local economy. Here is an article that was in the newspaper today. Study: Attacks will wipe out 1.6 million jobs this year By Simon Avery AP Business Writer Posted January 11 2002, 7:22 AM EST LOS ANGELES -- A study released today predicts the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will reverberate through the U.S. economy for years, wiping out more than 1.6 million jobs in 2002 alone. The losses will hit cities with exposure to the tourism and airline sectors hardest, but will also spread across a wide range of industries, from dining to financial services, according to the Milken Institute, a Santa Monica-based economic think-tank. New York City will lose nearly 150,000 jobs in 2002, followed by Los Angeles with 69,000 jobs, and Chicago with at least 68,000 jobs. Already, 248,000 jobs have been lost nationwide because of the attacks, the institute said. "The attacks will be impacting economic activity as late as 2004," said Ross DeVol, director of regional studies at the Milken Institute and principal author of the report. "The good news is that many of those jobs should come back." Las Vegas will prove the single most vulnerable metropolitan area, likely to see nearly 5 percent fewer jobs this year because of the attacks. Casino workers have taken some of the toughest blows, with one of every 20 casino jobs in the Las Vegas area lost in the first six weeks after the attacks. John Parker, a former housekeeping employee at the Rio hotel-casino, has been laid off since October and was at the Catholic Charities social services office Thursday looking for help with his $800-a-month rent. "I sold everything I had in my house to pay for the rent in November and December," said Parker, 39, a single father of two children. That included his furniture and television. Las Vegas hotels have managed to maintain high occupancy rates by offering discounts. In midweek, more than 80 percent of its 125,000 hotel rooms remain booked, and on weekends that figure tops 90 percent, said Erika Brandvik, a spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "We do feel the impact, and it hurts," she said. "But nobody ever gets a long-term feeling of doom and gloom about the Las Vegas economy. We have a record of recovery." Of the estimated 1.6 million job losses this year that the report ties to the terrorist attacks, 760,000 will be directly related to the attacks, with two-thirds of those in travel and tourism. The rest will be due to a ripple effect. The largest drop-off will be in air transportation, accounting for about 20 percent of the lost jobs, the report said. Spending on airline travel dropped 38 percent in September, a decline of $12.5 billion, and improved only modestly in October. The airline industry responded in October and November by cutting 81,000 jobs, or 6.2 percent of its total work force, and more deep cuts are on the way, the study says. The impact of Sept. 11 will extend well beyond travel-related industries. The entertainment and advertising sectors will lose 150,000 jobs as a result of the attacks, primarily because companies are slashing advertising budgets. Across the country, the financial services industry will likely lose 96,000 positions through the year. Part of the losses relate to compensation payments made to victims' families that have hit the profits of insurance companies. New York also lost billions of dollars worth of assets and thousands of jobs directly related to the shutdown of its financial district in the week following the attacks. The Milken report used economic models to extrapolate employment losses based on economic trends in 315 cities prior to Sept. 11. |
Grooch | Friday, January 11, 2002 - 07:23 am   Twiggy, that is an interesting site. I checked out my town and found out that my air quality, water quality and crime rates really suck. |
Juju2bigdog | Friday, January 11, 2002 - 08:38 am   I found out that my town where it rains all the time gets less annual rainfall than South Texas. |
Twiggyish | Friday, January 11, 2002 - 08:52 am   I had to laugh at mine. It said we had .1 inches of snow each year. It was accurate with our crime rate, which is very low. I can't see an older person mugging anyone..LOL |
Oregonfire | Friday, January 11, 2002 - 04:31 pm   40 inches of rain per year--whoo hoo! national average: 34 inches 140 sunny days per year--all right!! national average: 213 Dark and dank, yes indeedly. Stangely enough, I like it just fine. There is no snow, and it's green all the time, except pretty dry in the summer. |
Urgrace | Saturday, January 12, 2002 - 10:53 am   Well, I didn't find out anything I didn't already suspect about our town. We have an extremly low average income (even compared to rural Georgia and other southern areas), and cost of living is higher than those other places. Most of the people who move here are retiring or have other means of income. (On the other hand, our nearby neighbors in Austin were touted as one of the 10 best places to live in the US last year.) The best thing about living in Texas, cost wise, is the lack of a State income tax and the implementation of the state lottery to help defray costs. I don't know where Juju lives, but had to laugh at her comparison to south Texas rain! We might get more but it comes all at once!!! Until last year our state has been in drought conditions for six years. During those years we were put on water restrictions, and had floods in 1998. In 2001, we had a much more normal spring with weekly showers, only one month in the summer without any (measurable) rain, and a few drenchers in the fall that filled our (water source) underground aquifer to the brim. It was the best year we've had in a long time. |
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