Archive for the ‘unemployment’ Category
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
As the weather warms up around the country, a new survey shows the job market may be starting to thaw.
A survey by the National Association for Business Economics released yesterday revealed the most optimistic job outlook in several years.
Business leaders said they expect to lay off fewer employees and hire more new workers in the coming months.
The survey was conducted from Mar. 25 to April 10, and spanned business leaders and members of the NABE, said the Associated Press in their report. Some numbers from the survey:
- 22 percent of companies said they planned to increase payrolls, up from just 13 percent in January.
- 37 percent expected to add employees in the next six months.
- 13 percent expected to lay off workers. From the same survey in January 28 percent of companies expected layoffs.
- More than half saw stronger demand in their industry.
Add these up and the job market looks much better than it did just a few months ago. Big industries like finance, insurance and real estate all said they had plans to add more new hires in the next few months than they were in previous quarters. Meanwhile, a mere 3 percent of survey respondents predicted "significant" layoffs, and many companies reported having more merchandise and materials on hand than previous quarters.
So if you're among the unemployed or underemployed it may time to dust off the resume and give it a workout, because companies have plans to hire more workers soon. It's unclear how much of an immediate impact this could have on bankruptcy filing rates.
Posted in Bankruptcy and the Economy, job outlook, recession, unemployment | Comments Off
Monday, January 25th, 2010
The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, further evidence that the job market recovers at a very slow and bumpy pace. California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and even Georgia have experienced the highest recent increases in unemployment claims.
Wall Street economists had expected a small drop, but according to the Labor Department, initial claims for unemployment insurance actually rose by 36,000. An analyst from the Labor Department said that much of the increase is due to the administrative backlogs left over from the holiday season in the state agencies that process the claims.
Regardless of the ups and downs shown week to week, the economy is not consistently generating net increases in jobs. After adding only 4,000 jobs in November, which was the first increase in nearly two years, in December employers cut 85,000 jobs. Many economists say the four-week average of claims will need to fall to below 425,000 to signal that the economy is close to generating net job gains. Unfortunately, the four-week average rose for the first time since August to 448,250.
The number of people continuing to claim regular benefits dropped slightly to just under 4.6 million. However, this data does not include millions of people who have used up the regular 26 weeks of benefits customarily provided by states and are now receiving extended benefits for up to 73 additional weeks, which is paid for by the federal government. Over 5.9 million are receiving extended benefits in the week ended Jan. 2, which is an increase of more than 600,000 from the previous week.
These numbers demonstrate that even as layoffs are declining, hiring has not picked up, leaving people out of work for extended periods of time.
California has had the largest increase in claims, with 16,160. Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Georgia have the next largest increase. Oregon has had the biggest drop in claims, of 5,784, followed by Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan and Massachusetts.
There are positive forecasts out there as well. Because unemployment claims have been on a steady drop since last fall as companies cut fewer jobs, some economists hope that hiring will soon increase. Another report suggests that economic growth could pick up this spring.
Other economists, however, have been worrying that growth in the economy will stagnate this year as government support programs wind down and unemployment remains high.
Posted in 5 9, Blog, Economists, Georgia unemployment claims, average, benefits, claim, claims wall, dropped, extended, four week, increases, laid off, newly, pick, receiving, regular, rose, seeking, slightly, spring other, street, the, unemployment, unexpectedly, workers | Comments Off
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
According to a recent article regarding Georgia bankruptcy published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, it is nothing new that Georgia has one of the highest bankruptcy rates in the nation. What is new, suggests the AJC article, is who is filing: large numbers of people who have not previously had problems with financial instability.
With unemployment exceeding 10 percent, a real estate market in shambles, and many laws in place which 
support creditors, Georgia has had one of the highest bankruptcy rates for years. In 2009, and even here in early 2010, the numbers of people in Georgia filing personal bankruptcy continue to increase. These increasing numbers are partially the result of the large numbers of filers who are experiencing financial instability for the first time.
Richard Thomson, a partner at the Atlanta-based bankruptcy law firm Clark & Washington, said his firm is taking on an increasing number of higher-income professionals as clients. These higher-income filers simply can’t pay for all of their assets and possessions – boats, expensive cars, etc. As a result, they are filing bankruptcy as a means to start over, and their possessions are often given up as part of the process. According to Thomson, “They’re just saying ‘Take it. It’s not worth the effort anymore. I can’t keep up with it.”
Susan Blum and I are seeing the same trends here at Ginsberg Law Offices. While our firm has regularly handled cases for formerly high earners and individuals with substantial assets, we are seeing more and more people who start our meetings by saying "I never in a million years thought I would ever end up talking to a bankruptcy lawyer…." In many cases, clients who had previously enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle wait until disaster is about to strike before calling our office, perhaps in the expectation that their situations will improve. And more and more of these clients are turning to a Chapter 7 liquidation rather than a Chapter 13 reorganization.
More Chapter 7 Cases Being Filed
According to the National Bankruptcy Research Center, over half of Georgians filing between January and November 2009 filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7, most debts are wiped out, but so are assets that aren’t protected by exemptions – second cars or vacation homes, for example. 47 percent filed Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, which allows consumers to hold on to a house and car but requires that they repay a portion of their debts generally over a five year period. A Chapter 13 is more or less a reorganization of debt.
These percentages are new for Georgia, which traditionally has been dominated by Chapter 13 filings, as debtors were most concerned about holding onto a house and accumulated equity. Currently, many homeowners have little equity or owe more than their houses are worth, which may be one reason for the spike in Chapter 7 filings.
According to Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta, one in five consumers receiving recent pre-bankruptcy counseling said avoiding foreclosure was the primary reason for seeking bankruptcy protection. Georgia’s foreclosure process is the fastest in the nation, as it occurs without court or government supervision and takes only a week. A bankruptcy filing is the only realistic option for most Georgians seeking to delay a public auction of their homes.
I (Jonathan) have been representing individuals in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases for over 20 years and I can only remember two or three times when the demand for our services was so high. The Congressional Budget Office says that the recession is over but I am not seeing any indication that this is true.
Posted in 10, Amp, Assets, Bankruptcy, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filings in Georgia, Filers, Foreclosure, General consumer bankruptcy info, Georgia Bankruptcy, Georgia bankruptcy rates, Law, Possessions, and, atlanta based, boats, can’t, clark, clients, exceeding, expect, experiencing, financial, firm, georgia bankruptcy filings, georgia’s, higher income, homes jack, instability, instability with, numbers, pay, percent, problems, process, protection, recent bankruptcy trends in Georgia, seeking, simply, the, unemployment, williams, – | Comments Off
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its most recent unemployment numbers (for December 2009), and they paint a gloomy picture of the U.S. job landscape.
While the actual unemployment rate and number of unemployed people in the country remain unchanged from the last recorded period (10.0 percent and 15.3 million, respectively), certain figures point to a dismal immediate future.
Unemployment by the Numbers
Here's a look at a breakdown of the current unemployment figures for the United States:
- Adult men: 10.2 percent
- Adult women: 8.2 percent
- Teenagers: 27.1 percent
- Whites: 9.0 percent
- Blacks: 16.2 percent
- Hispanics: 12.9 percent
- Asians: 8.4 percent
While these numbers represent little movement in either direction from the BLS's last report, they also don’t paint the whole picture. For example:
- Long-term unemployment continued its upward movement, reaching 6.1 million people who have been without work for 27 weeks or more, composing approximately 40 percent of the total number of unemployed people.
- The number of underemployed people remains at 9.2 million – though these people are working, they have fewer hours than they’d like because of economic restraints.
- A whopping 929,000 workers are considered "discouraged," meaning they’re out of work and they would like to work but have stopped looking for jobs because they believe none are available. A year ago, the number of discouraged workers was only 642,000.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, job losses continued in certain sectors (including construction, manufacturing and wholesale trade) and increased in temporary help services (likely from holiday hires).
Looking Ahead
So what do these numbers mean for the future of the U.S. economy and job market? Some analysts suggest the unemployment rate will actually get higher as the economy begins to pick up.
This may sound counter-intuitive, but makes sense upon closer examination: as the economic situation improves nationally, more people will likely enter the work force, believing more opportunities for work are available. And, even if more jobs do crop up, they may not keep pace with the number of new workers seeking employment.
For now, the problem of long-term unemployment continues to plague Americans: the average length of time without a job was 29.1 weeks as of December, which is apparently the highest average since 1948, when records were first kept.
Additional Resources
Employment Situation (BLS News Release, January 2010)
Posted in employment, recession, unemployment | Comments Off
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Thanks to the health care overhaul bills currently working their way through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the high cost of health insurance in America is on the public’s mind. And now, with a key provision of the stimulus bill expiring this month, another aspect of the health care dilemma has come to the surface.
Job Loss and Health Insurance
Because many Americans get medical insurance through their employers, job loss can be a double blow, meaning the loss of income as well as coverage. To address this concern, lawmakers included provisions for health insurance in the stimulus bill passed in February:
- Subsidized coverage: The stimulus provided funds to reduce COBRA payments by 65 percent for those who wanted to keep their company’s health coverage after losing their jobs.
- Limited offer: Naturally, the government assistance came with boundaries: to be eligible, people must have been laid off between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. Further, subsidized coverage only lasts for nine months.
Because the measure went into effect in March of this year, thousands of unemployed Americans are now facing huge jumps in the cost of their health coverage.
In fact, sources indicate that the average affected family will see their costs soar $722 per month – from $389 to $1,111. In many states, that amounts to the vast majority of unemployment payments; in some states, it exceeds possible unemployment payments.
Hope on the Horizon: Bills in Congress
Luckily, the situation is not completely without hope. In fact, the Associated Press reports that Congress is currently considering bills that would add an additional $100 billion to unemployment benefits (including the COBRA subsidy).
Here’s a numerical breakdown of the proposed legislation:
- $85 billion would be funneled toward extending emergency unemployment payments
- $15 billion would fund the expanded health care coverage
In 2007, when unemployment hovered around 4.8 percent, about $43 billion was reportedly spent on unemployment costs.
While some measures of the economy suggest we’re pulling out of the worst of the recession, many experts still expect unemployment levels to remain high for another year or so, which means these problems likely won’t disappear any time soon.
Additional Resources
Special Report: Expiration of COBRA Subsidy (PDF)
Unemployed and Uninsured (PDF)
Posted in health insurance, medical bankruptcy, unemployment | Comments Off
Monday, November 9th, 2009
The suspect in the shooting in Orlando last week that left one dead and six injured had a checkered financial past—including unemployment and a recent bankruptcy filing.
In 2007, suspect Jason Rodriguez was fired from engineering firm Reynolds, Smith & Hills, the location of the shooting, according to The New York Times. According to Rodriguez's public defender, he believed his former employers were blocking his attempts to receive unemployment benefits.
Rodriguez filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May, 2009, listing assets of $4,675, mostly from an unreliable 2002 Nissan XTerra, and debts at $89,873.31, including child support, back taxes and student loans.
At the time of his bankruptcy filing, Rodriguez was working at Subway as a "sandwich artist", but recently quit the position due to shortage of hours, according to CNN.
Posted in Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy News and Events, Orlando shooting, unemployment | Comments Off
