What President Biden Inherits
As President Joe Biden takes office, he inherits:
The worst disease outbreak in over a century, which is spreading faster and killing more people in the U.S. than at any time since it began one year ago.
Highly effective vaccines that so far have reached only 4% of the public.
An economy struggling with 10 million jobless and millions more out of the workforce.
A rising tide of murders up nearly 36% last year in major cities.
Federal debt the highest since World War II, as a percentage of the U.S. economy, and an annual deficit running at $2.3 trillion this year even before Biden asks for a $1.9 trillion aid package.
by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims last week continue to hold at a high level. This is happening in Vermont and nationally. This is generally explained by more people getting back into the system as the new federal economic relief plan has both extended the unemployment insurance benefits and increased the payout. However, economists
Recently finalized stimulus package will help, but rent burdens continue to exceed affordability threshold
- Zillow estimates more than 3 million renters who were employed last March remained unemployed as of November, largely due to widespread layoffs in high-contact industries like hospitality and restaurants.
- Unemployed U.S. renters will typically spend 43% of unemployment insurance income on rent because of $300 weekly payments in the newly passed stimulus package, down from 81.2% with only state unemployment insurance.
- While still well above the 30% threshold for being considered rent burdened, the extra payments may help some of the millions of renters behind on their rent reduce the debt owed to their landlords before temporary eviction moratoriums expire.
Fri, 01/08/2021 - 1:27pm tim
by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims last week increased to their second-highest level since the early weeks of the pandemic after three weeks of declining numbers. The holiday season typically results in several swings in the data. Claims increased by 703 to 1,800 last week (and up 1,120 from the same time last year, which was before the pandemic hit).
As for the week s ongoing jobless claims, for the week ending January 2, 2021, the Labor Department processed 13,994 claims, up 2,809 from the previous week and 7,879 more than the same time last year.
As for further comparison, initial Vermont claims for the week of March 21, 2020 (the first full week of the pandemic in Vermont), were 3,784, up 3,125 from the week of March 14.
Workforce in Texas Upstream Energy Sector Contracts in November After Two Months of Growth
The number of total jobs in Texas’ upstream sector dipped in November after showing positive gains in October and November, driven principally by layoffs in the services sector.
The Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) reported new government data showing that the sector experienced a decline of 2,300 jobs in November compared to the previous month.
This is still moderate compared to the overall net decline this year of over 47,000 upstream jobs in Texas compared to full year 2019 statistics.
According to the Current Employment Statistics (CES) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, after six consecutive months of employment decline in the Texas upstream sector this year, 1,500 jobs were added in September compared to the previous month, followed by a revised gain of 2,400 positions in October.