California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

According to a Labor Dept. analysis, one in 10 Americans still cannot find work.
But in nine states the figure is much worse -- closer to one in five, according
to Labor Department data.

The figures are a stark presentation of how tough it is to find a full-time job,
even as the economy has grown for two straight quarters. The nation’s recent
unemployment rate of 10 percent doesn't include people who are working part-time
but would prefer full-time work, or the unemployed who have given up looking for
work. When those groups are included, the devastation in many parts of the country
is clear: Michigan's so-called "under-employment" rate is at 21.5 percent in 2009,
the highest in the nation.  California's is at 21.1 percent and Oregon's is at 20.7
percent. In three other states -- South Carolina, Nevada, and Rhode Island -- the
under-employment rate is above 19 percent. And in three more -- Arizona, Florida
and Tennessee -- it's above 18 percent.

Many companies along with state and local governments have cut back on workers
hours during the recession. And in the past six months, nearly 2 million unemployed
workers have given up on their job hunts. Nationwide, the under-employment rate is
identified at 17.3 percent in December, just below the 17.4 percent reached in
October, the highest on record dating from 1994.  Thus some analysts place 13 to
16 million Americans with little if any work.

California, which has been hit hard by the housing slump and suffered from last
year's downturn in international trade which has an official unemployment rate
of 12.4 percent will apparently not seen any relief in the near future as statewide
economic forecasts from UCLA, University of the Pacific and Chapman University all
illustrate that unemployment rates will not fall below 10 percent until sometime
in 2011.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.