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            A job is becoming a dim memory for many unemployed


            By: CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER and MARTIN CRUTSINGER
            AP Economics Writers 
            October 7, 2011

            For more Americans, being out of work has become a semi-permanent condition.

            Nearly one-third of the unemployed - nearly 4.5 million people - have had no job for a year or more. That's a record high. Many are older workers who have found it especially hard to find jobs.

            And economists say their prospects won't brighten much even after the economy starts to strengthen and hiring picks up. Even if they can find a job, it will likely pay far less than their old ones did.

            The outlook is unlikely to improve on Friday, when the government issues its monthly jobs report. Economists predict it will show that employers added a net 56,000 jobs in September.

            That's far fewer than needed to reduce unemployment. The unemployment rate is expected to remain 9.1 percent for a third straight month.

            Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/10/06/1999525/a-job-is-becoming-a-dim-memory.html#ixzz1aDJYviE8
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            Frustrated Democrats suggest top Obama housing official resign

            By: Mike Lillis
            The Hill
            October 6, 2011

            Infuriated by the Obama administration’s handling of the lingering foreclosure crisis, several leading House Democrats this week suggested that Edward DeMarco should step down as the chief regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

            DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) — an agency independent of the White House — met Thursday with 17 House Democrats in the Capitol, ostensibly to brief them on FHFA’s enhanced efforts to help struggling homeowners. Instead, he revealed that the agency doesn’t yet have such a plan.

            The news didn’t sit well with the Democrats.“I said to him twice, ‘Mr. DeMarco, if you cannot do this job — or if you don’t feel like you’re capable of helping the people that we represent — maybe you should move to the side and let somebody else come and replace you,’” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) told reporters after the meeting. “That’s just fair.”

            Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/186141-house-dems-suggest-that-top-housing-official-resign
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            Ask Republicans about jobs, they’ll answer about Obamacare

            By: Dana Milbank
            The Washington Post
            October 5, 2011

            By most of the usual measures, President Obama has no business being reelected. Here’s why he might be anyway.

            On Wednesday morning, as Senate Democratic leaders were scrambling to find a way to enact part of Obama’s jobs bill, a dozen Republican lawmakers assembled outside the Capitol to complain about . . . health-care reform.

            “Every day I get up, I do at least something to fight Obamacare,” Rep. Steve King (Iowa) announced to the cameras.

            Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.) proclaimed that the year-and-a-half-old law meant the “socialization of medicine.”

            “Monstrous!” contributed Rep. Joe Pitts (Pa.). “This was a 2,733-page bill! . . . No amendments! . . . Partisan vote!”

            Maybe so, gentlemen, but don’t you have something better to do with your time.

            Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2011/10/05/gIQAjPVKOL_story.html
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            Economist: Decline unprecedented since WWII

            By: JOHN MONK
            The State
            September 28, 2011

            Think people were worse off in 2010 in the Columbia area than several years ago?
            You’re right.

             Since 2007, median household income has dropped from $50,086 to $45,929, and the percentage of families living below the poverty level has risen from 8.5 percent to 11.1 percent. Median means that half the household incomes are above the median and half are below.

            That’s according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census, which releases annual estimates of the Columbia metro area and other regions around the country. The Columbia metro area consists of Richland, Lexington, Kershaw, Calhoun, Saluda and Fairfield counties.

            “The labor force participation rate is going down, there aren’t as many people working, so you don’t have as many two-earner households as you had a few years ago,” said University of South Carolina economist Doug Woodward, who is at the Darla Moore School of Business.

            Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/09/28/1988978/income-down-poverty-up.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1ZHblNg2p
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            South, slammed by recession, bleeds jobs

            By: "The Bottom Line"
            msnbc
            September 26, 2011

            The aftermath of the Great Recession has overturned the long-standing geography of economic strength in the U.S., with the Sun Belt now setting and the Rust Belt doing relatively better in the albeit anemic recovery, The New York Times reported on Monday.

            In a front-page article on nytimes.com called "Slump Alters Jobless Map in U.S., With South Hit Hard" the newspaper says that six of the 10 states with the highest unemployment rates in the nation are in the South, which before the Great Recession boasted one of the country's lowest unemployment rates.

            Read more: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/26/7973429-south-slammed-by-recession-bleeds-jobs

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            Deep Recession Sharply Altered U.S. Jobless Map

            By: Michael Cooper
            The New York Times
            September 26, 2011

            When the unemployment rate rose in most states last month, it underscored the extent to which the deep recession, the anemic recovery and the lingering crisis of joblessness are beginning to reshape the nation’s economic map.

            The once-booming South, which entered the recession with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, is now struggling with some of the highest rates, recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.

            Several Southern states — including South Carolina, whose 11.1 percent unemployment rate is the fourth highest in the nation — have higher unemployment rates than they did a year ago. Unemployment in the South is now higher than it is in the Northeast and the Midwest, which include Rust Belt states that were struggling even before the recession.

            Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/us/unrelenting-downturn-is-redrawing-americas-economic-map.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
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            Technical colleges, Clemson get $20 million in federal funds for worker retraining 

            By: WAYNE WASHINGTON
            The State
            September 27, 2011

            Ten S.C. technical colleges and Clemson University will share $20 million in federal money to retrain unemployed South Carolinians for jobs in emerging industries, the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor said Monday.

            Florence-Darlington Technical College is lead institution for the project, which calls for retraining centers to be created at each participating institution. The schools also would offer career assessment and training.

            “This is a big deal for us,” said Charles Gould, president of Florence-Darlington Tech. “This is trying to work with a whole cadre of workers who are often overlooked.”

            Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/09/27/1987694/technical-colleges-clemson-get.html#ixzz1ZHUt4aAb
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            Without a job, California woman forced to live a lie

            By: Christina Zdanowicz
            CNN
            September 24, 2011

            Sukhraj Beasla's parents boast that their successful daughter works at a bank. The problem is that it's all a lie -- she was laid off more than two years ago.

            The tentacles of this lie taunt her, adding to mounting familial pressure to get it together.

            When Beasla visits her parents in Northern California and they go out to dinner or their temple, they brag right along with the other parents. Beasla has no choice but to play along with the lie.

            "I have to go there and tell them I was able to get my next promotion and that I'm on track and that there's no way the company would let me go because I'm such a valuable asset and all this bulls***," Beasla said.


            Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/IREPORT/09/24/new.face.of.poverty.unemployed/index.html
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            Haley can’t back drug-test claim

            By: Jim Davenport
            The Associated Press
            September 20, 2011

            S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday she can’t back up claims that half of the people wanting work at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site failed drug tests and half of the remainder couldn’t pass reading and writing tests.

            Haley said in an interview with The Associated Press that she’s learned a lesson and is going to be more careful.

            “I’ve never felt like I had to back up what people tell me. You assume that you’re given good information,” Haley said. “And now I’m learning through you guys that I have to be careful before I say something.”

            Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/09/20/1977998/haley-cant-back-drug-test-claim.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1YcWvpDpU

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            S.C. jobless rate jumps to 11.1 percent 
            Staff reports
            The State
            September 17, 2011

            South Carolina’s unemployment rate hit a new high in August, jumping to 11.1 from 10.9 percent in July.

            The leisure and hospitality industry was hardest hit, losing 3,400 jobs since July as the traditional summer tourism season came to an end. Trade, transportation and utilities shed 1,500 jobs, and the hard-hit construction sector lost 200 jobs.

            But the government, which has shed the most jobs in the past year, added 1,400 jobs in August. And manufacturing continued to be a bright spot for the state, gaining 800 jobs.

            Read more  http://www.thestate.com/2011/09/16/1973710/sc-jobless-rate-jumps-to-111-percent.html

            Nearly 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty
            The Associated Press
            September 15, 2011

            The ranks of the nation’s poor have swelled to a record 46.2 million – nearly 1 in 6 Americans – as the prolonged pain of the recession leaves millions still struggling and out of work. And the number without health insurance has reached 49.9 million, the most in more than two decades.

            Read more  http://www.thestate.com/2011/09/14/1970414/nearly-1-in-6-americans-live-in.html


            The U.S. Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee
            September 9, 2011

            THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT: IMPACT FOR SOUTH CAROLINA

            The American people understand that the economic crisis and the deep recession weren’t created overnight and won’t be solved overnight. The economic security of the middle class has been under attack for decades. That’s why President Obama believes we need to do more than just recover from this economic crisis – we need to rebuild the economy the American way, based on balance, fairness, and the same set of rules for everyone from Wall Street to Main Street.  We can work together to create the jobs of the future by helping small business entrepreneurs, by investing in education, and by making things the world buys. The President understands that to restore an American economy that’s built to last we cannot afford to outsource American jobs and encourage reckless financial deals that put middle class security at risk.

            To create jobs, the President unveiled the American Jobs Act – nearly all of which is made up of ideas that have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans, and that Congress should pass right away to get the economy moving now. The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans. And it would do so without adding a dime to the deficit.

            Read more about the specific impact on South Carolina   http://www.scsbc.org/issues.aspx?article_id=1031

            Democrats Press Obama for New Works Programs; Republicans Say They’ve Failed
            By ROBERT PEAR
            The New York Times
            Sept. 7, 2011
            WASHINGTON — House and Senate Democrats are urging President Obama to propose spending on a host of new public works and job programs in his speech to a joint session of Congress on Thursday. But Republicans vowed to resist such initiatives, saying they had been a spectacular failure in the last two and a half years.

            Democrats said the top item on the agenda of Congress for the rest of this year, and the top priority for a special bipartisan committee on deficit reduction, must be finding jobs for the 14 million Americans who are unemployed. “Job creation equals deficit reduction,” said Representative John B. Larson of Connecticut, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
            Read more http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/us/politics/07cong.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha24


            Unemployed face tough competition: underemployed
            By PAUL WISEMAN and CHRISTOPHER LEONARD AP Business Writers 
            09/04/2011

            WASHINGTON—The job market is even worse than the 9.1 percent unemployment rate suggests.

            America's 14 million unemployed aren't competing just with each other. They must also contend with 8.8 million other people not counted as unemployed—part-timers who want full-time work.

            When consumer demand picks up, companies will likely boost the hours of their part-timers before they add jobs, economists say. It means they have room to expand without hiring.

            And the unemployed will face another source of competition once the economy improves: Roughly 2.6 million people who aren't counted as unemployed because they've stopped looking for work. Once they start looking again, they'll be classified as unemployed. And the unemployment rate could rise.

            Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_18825836#ixzz1X2N7X8hO

            Sympathy for jobless drying up?
            This Labor Day, America’s losing patience with the jobless

            By TONY PUGH
            McClatchy Newspapers
            The State
            Sep. 04, 2011

            America’s jobless also face increased hostility from conservative lawmakers, as more states cut the amount and duration of unemployment benefits, while making them harder to get and easier to lose.

            In South Carolina, where state-funded jobless benefits were cut from 26 to 20 weeks, Republican state Sen. Kevin Bryant blogged in April that “Part of the unemployment problem is that our human nature is to take advantage of the ability to get paid to not work. … I’m very sympathetic to those out of work desperately seeking it, but I’m disappointed that we have a significant segment of our society leeching (off) the system.”

            Read more  http://www.thestate.com/2011/09/04/1957637/change-in-tone.html

            Zero Job Growth Latest Bleak Sign for U.S. Economy
             By SHAILA DEWAN
            The New York Times
            September 2, 2011

            August brought no increase in the number of jobs in the United States, a signal that the economy has stalled and that inaction by policy makers carries substantial risk.
            http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/03/business/economy/united-states-showed-no-job-growth-in-august.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2

            Haley: no training, no jobless benefits
            By Liz Segrist
            lsegrist@scbiznews.com
            Aug. 30, 2011

            Gov. Nikki Haley said at a stop in Greenville today that she will push to require unemployed South Carolinians to enroll in a training program if they wish to receive benefits.
            Read more http://www.gsabusiness.com/news/40856/print

            Taking a Page From FDR, Great Lakes Restoration Program Earmarks $6 Million To Hire Unemployed Workers
            Workers Independent News
            8/25/2011
            A new program being launched by the Environmental Protection Agency could be good news for the unemployed. The EPA announced Tuesday it was hoping to use $6 million to specifically hire the unemployed as it moves forward on the Great Lakes Restoration Program. The Agency is taking a page from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps by earmarking the money. The program was designed to help the chronically unemployed get back on their feet and is often touted as one of the most successful aspects of the New Deal.
            Read more http://www.laborradio.org/Channels/Story.aspx?ID=1527826


            S.C.’s jobless: 'People around here, they're struggling'
            By Roddie Burris
            The State
            August 20, 2011

            ORANGEBURG — South Carolina’s jobless rate jumped to 10.9 percent in July, up nearly half a percentage point over June and the highest it has been all year.

            But if you’re jobless, particularly for the long-term jobless, the rate is 100 percent and holding — and people are frustrated.

            “People around here, they’re struggling. People are stealing the manhole covers — it’s just that bad around here now,” said Purvis Richardson, 43, of Orangeburg, leaving the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce office here Friday afternoon with an updated resume in his hand.
             

            Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/08/20/1939823/jobless-rate-spikes-to-109-percent.html#ixzz1Wug4WByJ
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