Unemployment Rate Rose in 20 States -- December, 2010

The statistics:

• Unemployment rate rose in 20 states; fell in 15
• Employers in most states did not add any net new jobs in December
• The number of jobs fell in 35 states; only 15 states reported gains
• Layoffs have slowed; hiring has not begun
• States with biggest net job gains: Texas (added 20,000); South Carolina (added 9,000)
• Nevada: highest unemployment rate, 14.5 percent; up from 14.3 percent the previous month
• Nevada: highest unemployment on record dating from 1976
• California: second-highest rating, 12.5 percent
• Florida: third, 12 percent
• North Dakota: lowest, 3.8 percent; followed by Nebraska (4.4 percent) and South Dakota (4.6 percent)

It is interesting to note that neither Nebraska nor South Dakota has much of an oil industry so unemployment in North Dakota is not all due to one industry.

I assume Nevada's rate went up a bit as more folks re-entered the jobs market hearing stories about a better economy.

The article states:

Layoffs have slowed dramatically in the past year, but hiring has yet to pick up. 

I have opined in the past that the reason layoffs have "slowed dramatically" is because companies have pretty much cut to the bone; there is literally no more folks to cut without putting the company out of business.


16 Tons,  Eric Burdon