Jobs, Economy, Unemployment

Let's parse today's jobs numbers reported by the Labor Department.

18K jobs created, which is very paltry. But, 57K private sector jobs created, which is a bit ok. The net difference, a result of significant public sector job losses.

Is this a surprise? People lurch to the bottom line number, for political purposes mostly. Could be Obama's demise, but I fear we would be no better off with Republicans at the helm.

Keep parsing. The Stimulus did provide significant money to states. Yes some of us still reporting on the details, every job funded with ARRA dollars, every dollar spent, every transaction greater than $25K reported publicly in nano-detail (trust me on that).

PSU alone, my great Portland State University, received $28M. Its all public over on recovery.gov.

So what now that state fiscal stabilization money is over and done? Well states have to balance their own budgets. The outcry over public sector unions and the pain and suffering in state budgets, not to mention some of us with salary freezes going on 3 years, soon to be going on 5 years, oh, even worse a pay cut when you factor in still more furlough days and health care costs. Good thing my kids have good earning potential!

What else contributes to net job loss? Construction - ha! Foreclosures have people tangled in knots, so no new houses being built.

Manufacturing? Things look ok here in Washington County - cranes over Intel, new hospital under construction on Evergreen Rd, and SolarWorld hiring to crank out more solar panels. No thanks to our elected congressional rep, who likes to wear a tiger suit in the dead of night - now is that more embarassing than tweeting illicit pics? Well, useless as a representative, so just goes to show you the economy chunks alone with or without those politicians.

From the financial wild west under Bush, with unregulated collateralized debt obligations and securitized mortgages (or is it mortgatized securities?) -- still untangling that and trying to wrestle it under control, to ARRA spending, and now - the withdrawl of ARRA spending.

Withdrawl is painful, indeed. I don't know what we need. Chocolate, perhaps.

Intel and the 400

There are cranes on the horizon. Not the flying kind, or the commemorate-Hiroshima kind, but the tower kind (which come with new safety instructions..) As many as 5, all in one place.

Intel is expanding! Hey! And towards that end (or maybe completely different, they don't share their state secrets with me) 400 kids showed up in local school districts, while their parents will be attending training.

The letters to the editor of our fair Oregonian mostly are negative. We don't want your state secrets, this is a real imposition! How can we squeeze room for 400 kids in this budget environment! They all cry out.

Well hey, that is a problem I like to have. Expansion. A chance for cultural exchange. A chance for these kids to get to know American kids. And their parents to be trained here. A chance for all of them to contribute to the local economy for their time here.

What is the alternative? For companies to shrink up and dry away like fallen leaves on an October day?? Give me the 400. As the story of the loaves and 2 fishes which fed 500, with leftovers for tomorrow, well somehow we shall find a way.