23 Şubat 2013 Cumartesi

What's the Maximum Weekly Unemployment Benefit?

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If you're recently unemployed, you may be wondering what the maximum weekly amount of money that you may be getting from the government. Fortunately, MSN Money published a comparison of how much your UI benefits could be... Note: The amount you get depends on the state in which you worked, not the state that you may move to during your jobless time.

Maximum Weekly Unemployment Benefit By State
  1. Alabama - $255
  2. Alaska - $370
  3. Arizona - $240
  4. Arkansas - $409
  5. California - $450
  6. Colorado - $475
  7. Connecticut - $519
  8. Delaware - $330
  9. District of Columbia (Washington DC) - $359
  10. Florida - $275
  11. Georgia - $330
  12. Hawaii - $545
  13. Idaho - $362
  14. Illinois - $385
  15. Indiana - $390
  16. Iowa - $443
  17. Kansas - $423
  18. Kentucky - $415
  19. Louisiana - $284
  20. Maine - $496
  21. Maryland - $380
  22. Massachusetts - $628
  23. Michigan - $365
  24. Minnesota - $566
  25. Mississippi - $230
  26. Missouri - $320
  27. Montana - $407
  28. Nebraska - $308
  29. Nevada - $362
  30. New Hampshire - $427
  31. New Jersey $584
  32. New Mexico - $455
  33. New York - $405
  34. North Carolina - $494
  35. North Dakota - $385
  36. Ohio - $372
  37. Oklahoma - $392
  38. Oregon - $482
  39. Pennsylvania - $539
  40. Rhode Island - $528
  41. South Carolina - $326
  42. South Dakota - $285
  43. Tennessee - $275
  44. Texas - $378
  45. Utah - $444
  46. Vermont - $409
  47. Virgina - $378
  48. Washington - $541
  49. West Virginia - $424
  50. Wisconsin - $363
  51. Wyoming - $387
The amount of money received during Tier 2 and Tier 3 payouts are the same as what is received during the first phase of unemployment. The numbers above do not include the extra $25/week that Obama approved, so your checks may actually be slightly higher, as long as the stimulus plan is still in affect.

California's UI Fund To Run Huge Deficits

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Click on Chart for a Larger Image

How bad are things in the state of California?

Well according to an Unemployment Insurance (UI) Fund forecast issued by California's Employment Development Department (EDD), the fund which is currently about $8 billion underfunded will be over $27 billion in the red by 2011!

That's almost $1,000 for every man, woman and child in the state of California---Or almost $2,000 for every worker in the state---It will likely be many many years before CA is able to dig out of this hole.

Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi's US Economist on the Unemployment Picture

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On February 5th, Bloomberg interviewed Ellen Zentner, Senior US economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. to discuss the January unemployment rate and the outlook for the US Labor Market.

Ellen's views include:
  • "the labor market is definitely improving, we got a bigger downward revision to payroll data, leading up to today... No we lost 8.4 million jobs vs over 7 million... And this contraction in jobs correlates more to the decline in consumer spending."
  • In january's report the comments are suspicious because jobs aren't being created, yet the unemployment rate drops. Looking at labor force participation, you see that household employment has increased. But you also need to know how many people dropped out of the labor market all together.
  • We have record numbers of discouraged workers and many of them are permanently lost---but thousands will come back into the labor market.
  • The data is showing some job gains in some areas---but it isn't happening in all sectors of the economy. January saw the first increase in manufacturing jobs in over 3 years.
  • Forward looking indicators show that part-time and contract jobs should improve in the next few months---This isn't as good as landing higher paying full time jobs.
  • The labor market will wadddle along for a little bit, because you have create jobs for the previously displaced and the teenagers that are becoming working aged adults---this isn't going to happen for some time.

What's the employment situation?

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION – SEPTEMBER 2010
Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-95,000) in September, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Government employment declined (-159,000), reflecting both a drop in the number of temporary jobs for Census 2010 and job losses in local government.

Household Survey Data
The number of unemployed persons, at 14.8 million, was essentially unchanged in September, and the unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent. (See table A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men (9.8 percent), adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (26.0 percent), whites (8.7 percent), blacks (16.1 percent), and Hispanics (12.4 percent) showed little or no change in September. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.4 percent, not seasonally
adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over), at 6.1 million, was little changed over the month but was down by 640,000 since a series high of 6.8 million in May. In September, 1.7 percent of unemployed persons had been jobless for 27 weeks or more. (See table A-12.) In September, both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 64.7 percent, and the employmentpopulation
ratio, at 58.5 percent, were unchanged. (See table A-1.) The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary
part-time workers) rose by 612,000 over the month to 9.5 million.

Over the past 2 months, the number of such workers has increased by 943,000. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.) About 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in September, up from 2.2 million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months.

They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 1.2 million discouraged workers in September, an increase of 503,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.3
million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

Learning from China's rise to escape the middle-income trap : a new structural economics approach to Latin America

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This paper discusses the causes of the middle-income trap in Latin America and the Caribbean, identifies the challenges and opportunities for Latin America that come from China's rise, and draws lessons from New Structural Economics and the Growth Identification and Facilitation Framework to help Latin America escape the middle-income trap. Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are caught in a middle-income trap due to their inability to structurally upgrade from low value-added to high value-added products. 
Governments in Latin America and the Caribbean should intervene in industries in which they have a comparative advantage, calibrating supporting policies in close collaboration with the private sector through public-private sector alliances. Through continuous structural upgrading in sectors intensive in factors such as natural resources, scientific knowledge, and unskilled labor, the region could achieve dynamic growth. This would require investments in education, research and development, and physical infrastructure. 
Therefore, industrial upgrading and diversification would be essential to avoid further de-industrialization arising from the competitive pressures of the rise of China, broaden the base for economic growth, and create the basis for further sustained reduction in unemployment, poverty and income inequality. Failure to do so would lead to a loss of competitiveness and risks of further de-industrialization.
Learning from China's rise to escape the middle-income trap : a new structural economics approach to Latin America

22 Şubat 2013 Cuma

Hezbollah agent in Cyprus gathered info on Israeli flights

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A potential disaster of a terrorist attack in Cyprus was thwarted, and the investigation led to the capture of a Hezbollah agent who'd collected data on Israeli flights to the island:
Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, one of the suspects in a thwarted terrorist attack against Israelis in Cyprus in July, said on Friday that he was sent to record the time of arrival of flights from Israel, Army Radio reported.

According to the report, Yaacoub testified in court on Thursday that he was told by his superiors to document the landing times of flights from Israel.

The New York Times reported the Cyprus bomb-plot suspect was payed "$600 per month since 2010" by Hezbollah.

The Times quoted a written testimony read before the court where Yaacoub described acting as a courier for the group in Turkey, France and the Netherlands.

Providing a rare insight into the operations of the Lebanese militant group, Yaacoub said that if his handler wished to contact him, he would send a message "about the weather," The Times reported.

“I work for my party,” Yaacoub said. “Whenever they asked me to do something, I delivered,” The Times quoted his testimony as stating.

Yaacoub was also given the code name "Wael," The Times reported, quoting the bomb-plot suspect as saying that "in general, the party is based on secrecy between members. We don’t know the real names of our fellow members."

The bomb-plot suspect said that as a member of Hezbollah, he had the right to refuse to participate in terrorist operations, The Times reported. "If I was asked to participate in attacks, I had the right to refuse," he said.
There might be a bit of taqqiya involved in that last statement there: what if he thinks he doesn't "because it is Allah's will" that he does take part in the attacks?

It's very fortunate that the attack was prevented. And if these agents can be exposed, that would help prevent future disasters too.

LISTS OF JEWS COMPILED AT HUNGARY’S LARGEST UNIVERSITY

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Europe has not fundamentally changed since it went on it's Jew-killing binge. The only difference is, now, they believe they have found someone else (Muslims) to do their dirty work for them.

From Atlas Shrugs:

NEWS ALERT: Lists Of Jews Compiled At Hungary’s Largest University February 20, 2013

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest, Hungary
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- There was an outcry in Hungary on Wednesday, February 20, over revelations that the country's largest university has been involved in compiling lists of presumed Jewish students at a time of growing antisemitism in this nation of some 10 million people.

The files were compiled annually on freshmen by the student council of the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), according to a list obtained by Hungarian television network ATV and seen by BosNewsLife.

Referring to Jewish origins, the 2009 list shows the letters I of the Hungarian word Igen ("Yes") and N for Nem ("No").

The practice resembled prewar Hungary, which introduced Europe's first antisemitic legislation as early as 1920.

CONTROVERSIAL LEGISLATION

Known as the 'numerus clausus law' it limited the number of Jewish students in universities, prompting intellectuals to emigrate, including scientist Edward Teller who left Hungary in 1933.

Critics say the legislation contributed to an atmosphere of hatred in Hungary, which eventually became a close ally of Nazi Germany during World War Two, when 600,000 Hungarian Jews were killed.

It was not immediately clear how the ELTE lists would be used, but the student council that compiled them has ties to the influential far-right Movement For a Better Hungary (Jobbik) party, investigators said.

Recently, a prominent legislator of Jobbik suggested to draw up lists of Jews "who pose a "national security risk".

Jobbik's Marton Gyöngyösi said the lists were needed following the brief conflict in Gaza and should include members of parliament.

HUNGARIAN JEWISH ANCESTRY 

"I know how many people with Hungarian ancestry live in Israel, and how many Israeli Jews live in Hungary," he told parliament in November. "I think such a conflict makes it timely to tally up people of Jewish ancestry who live here, especially in the Hungarian Parliament and the Hungarian government, who, indeed, pose a national security risk to Hungary."

Jobbik has also supported several paramilitary groups, wearing uniforms and waving flags resembling the Nazi-era.

The Action and Protection Foundation -- a new Jewish watchdog on anti-Semitism in Hungary -- said it was concerned about reports that lists are already compiled at ELTE university over a period of at least six years.