Belleville News-Democrat Logo

Some regions show signs of economic recovery | Belleville News-Democrat

×
  • E-edition
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Archives
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • All News
    • Metro-east News
    • MetroLink crime database
    • Business
    • Congressional shooter
    • Crime
    • Belleville News
    • Education News
    • Violation of Trust
    • Sometime in the Night
    • Then I Knew
    • O'Fallon Progress
    • Highland News Leader
    • State|Region News
    • Nation|World News
    • Politics and Government
    • Scott Air Force Base
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Public Salaries
    • Send Us Your Photographs
    • All Sports
    • Cardinals
    • Cheap Seats Blog
    • Blues
    • Colleges
    • High Schools
    • Recruiting
    • Chiefs
    • High School Football
    • High School Baseball/Softball
    • High School Basketball
    • Send Us Your Photographs
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • All Living
    • Metro-east Living
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Horoscopes
    • Health Sections
    • Ask Heidi
    • Special Sections
    • Records
    • Contests
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Celebrations
    • Send Us Your Photographs
    • All Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Glenn McCoy
    • Letters/Sound-off
    • Submit a Letter
  • Obituaries

    • Today's Hot Deal
    • Today's Circulars
    • Service Directory
  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
    • Homes
    • Local Homes for Sale
  • Legals
  • Place Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Business

Some regions show signs of economic recovery

Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

October 06, 2009 03:01 AM

Signs of a slow and fitful recovery emerged in August in some communities across the country where unemployment dropped and foreclosures stabilized, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties.

The average county stress score fell slightly, and fewer counties qualified as economically distressed.

But those glimmers of hope are providing scant benefit for most people suffering from the recession. Some of the statistical improvements in employment were inflated by seasonal jobs, workers who quit the labor force and temporary federal stimulus money.

"It's pretty clear that even though the recession likely has ended, not too many people are likely going to be humming that Bobby McFerrin tune, 'Don't Worry, Be Happy,"' said Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to Belleville News-Democrat

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

The latest results of the AP's Economic Stress Index showed the pain easing in some of the nation's hardest hit areas, such as Elkhart, Ind., and pockets of the Carolinas. But foreclosure hotbeds in metro Las Vegas and South Florida continued to suffer.

The AP calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on a county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. Under a rough rule of thumb, a county is considered stressed when its score exceeds 11. The average county's Stress score dipped to 10.3 in August, from 10.54 in July, the first drop in three months. In August 2008, it was 6.94.

About 39 percent of counties had a score of 11 or higher in August, compared with 41 percent in both June and July. That's still up substantially from a year ago, when only 6.6 percent of counties had scores above 11.

As in previous months, Nevada (21.32), Michigan (17.59) and California (16.31) topped the list of the most economically stressed states. North Dakota (4.67), South Dakota (5.3) and Nebraska (5.79) were at the bottom.

The most stressed counties were Imperial County, Calif. (31.83); Yuma County, Ariz. (27.58); Merced County, Calif. (24.28); Lyon County, Nev. (24.02); and Lauderdale, Tenn. (23.56). Imperial and Yuma are agricultural areas with high seasonal unemployment.

The states that showed the most improvement in their stress scores were Colorado, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. All four saw their jobless rates fall.

The states with the biggest year-to-year increases in economic stress in August were Nevada, Oregon and Michigan.

Prince William County, Va., was among the five counties with most improved foreclosure rates over the past year. And Caroline County, Va., was among the five with the best improvement in the past month.

Colorado's stress score fell to 9.96 in August, from 10.47 in July, as its unemployment rate dropped to 7.3 percent from 7.8 percent. But the decline in its unemployment rate was due mainly to a drop in the state's labor force, not to the creation of new jobs, said Tucker Hart Adams of the Adams Group, an economic consulting firm based in Colorado Springs, Co.

When unemployed people give up on their job searches, they are no longer counted in the unemployment rate.

Overall, Colorado's economy is still struggling, Adams said.

"You can go to the mall and fire a cannon and not disturb anyone," she said.

In Cherry Creek, a high-end shopping strip in Denver, there is "lots of empty space" among the storefronts, Adams added.

A trend of frustrated people giving up on job hunting is also evident in North and South Carolina and Virginia, analysts said. The pattern surfaced in national data Friday, when the Labor Department reported that nearly 600,000 people stopped looking for jobs last month.

  Comments  

Videos

The basics of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing

Old Towne Mall in Belleville gets a new tenant

View More Video

Trending Stories

Man robbed at gunpoint by coworker, two men she brought to motel room, police say

February 18, 2019 12:02 PM

O’Fallon couple makes left-hand turn after church and ends up saving a life

February 19, 2019 09:47 AM

Police searching for suspect after man shot and killed in East St. Louis

February 19, 2019 10:47 AM

Lindenwood’s interim president doesn’t have a college degree

February 19, 2019 12:38 PM

Mascoutah’s Olivia Moyer wins second straight IHSA state bowling championship

February 19, 2019 12:14 PM

Read Next

Business

The Latest: French court fines Swiss bank UBS $4.2 billion

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 20, 2019 07:09 AM

A Paris court has ordered Swiss bank UBS to pay 3.7 billion euros ($4.2 billion) in fines for helping wealthy French clients evade tax authorities.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to Belleville News-Democrat

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE BUSINESS

Sentencing set for immigrant advocate convicted in tax case

Business

Sentencing set for immigrant advocate convicted in tax case

February 20, 2019 09:55 AM

Business

Utility wants new limit to release mercury in Lake Michigan

February 20, 2019 09:53 AM

Business

Grains mostly lower, livestock mixed

February 20, 2019 09:48 AM

Business

Independent investigator proposed for Statehouse harassment

February 20, 2019 09:47 AM
Possible peace declaration looms large over Trump-Kim summit

Business

Possible peace declaration looms large over Trump-Kim summit

February 20, 2019 08:26 AM

Business

Israel aims to be the 4th nation to land on the moon in historic SpaceX launch

February 20, 2019 02:00 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Advertise With Us
  • Shopping
  • Local Deals
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story