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05-11-2009, 01:13 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: near Charlottesville, VA
14 posts, read 10,592 times
Reputation: 13
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20% unemployment rate in WV??
My husband heard on the local evening news over here in VA that WV's current unemployment rate is at 20% - is that really true?? Granted, I'd be an idiot if I wasn't aware that things are bad all over the country right now, but 20%....REALLY THAT HIGH???  |
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05-11-2009, 01:28 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Las Vegas,NV
468 posts, read 231,983 times
Reputation: 295
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No the unemployment rate in WV is 6.9%, lower than the national average. No state has a 20% unemployment rate (maybe some counties do?), Even #1 Michigan is at 12.6% well below 20%.
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05-11-2009, 01:40 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Elkins, WV -- Huntington, WV
1,295 posts, read 1,209,225 times
Reputation: 304
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The highest county rate in WV is 14.3% in Calhoun County. The state average is still much lower than the national average which is hovering between 9-10%. I believe the average for the state is around 7.5% now though.
Monongalia County actually has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 4%.
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05-11-2009, 02:58 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Western Pennsylvania
1,414 posts, read 1,233,055 times
Reputation: 285
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The unemployment rate is one of those numbers that depend on how you define it. The government defines it as the percentage of people in the workforce who are unemployed.
But "in the workforce" is a nebulous concept. For one, if you're not actively seeking work, you're not "in the workforce", even if you'd be willing to work if the right job came along. If you're caring for a newborn, home from college for the summer, or just not interested in working, you're not "in the workforce". Off-the-books employment doesn't count either. And working in your field doesn't count any more than unloading pallets in a warehouse; both count as "employed".
Over the years, there have been numerous attempts to measure the "true" unemployment rate, without much success. But 20% sounds pretty high, like someone just added the reported unemployment rate to the welfare rate.
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05-12-2009, 04:28 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2007
3,719 posts, read 2,555,465 times
Reputation: 567
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I agree with Snorpus...I do expect the welfare rate to increase.
Many older people have been forced out of work before retirement and they are showing up in the welfare lines.
Many are taking their social security benefits as a buffer against their unemployment check...
This political cycle of re-distrubution has been particularly viscious!
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