The unemployment rate in Nevada, New Jersey and Washington County has undeniably plummeted over the recent years. Analysts have expressed their take on why the jobless numbers in the said states have incidentally diminished. However, a recent study suggests that the figure for jobless Latinos in Nevada has remained high in the recent years.
In Nevada alone, KOLO TV reports that its economy has bounced back to its solid state, and is now far from its hopeless condition after the recession. Nevertheless, experts claim that there are certain sectors in Nevada that are still in the dark when it comes to resurging from the economic downfall. Construction and hospitality sectors have been pointed out to have a sluggish growth throughout the years.
According to a recent study from Brookings Mountain West in partnership with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Brookings Institute - a Washington D.C. based institution - Latinos have the highest rate of unemployment ever since the recession. The study even claims that while the state's economy has recovered little by little, jobless Latinos continue to grow in number.
Between 2007 and 2010, documented unemployment rate among Latinos have jumped from 6.5 percent to 18.6 percent. And although the figure has diminished to 13.6 percent in 2012, researchers pointed out that it is still much higher compared to the 9.8 percent of the state's jobless rate.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Marie Corfield, a public school teacher who attempted to run into office against incumbent Republican Donna Simon, recently criticized the sluggish job growth in the said state.
In her Dec. 30 column on the Democrat blog BlueJersey.com, Corfield called Gov. Chris Christie as "the governor of the state with the highest unemployment rate in the region, stagnant job growth" and a possibly low minimum wage.
Documents from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that Corfield may have a point after all since New Jersey was surprisingly the state with the highest unemployment rate compared to Connecticut, Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania. In fact, New Jersey's jobless rate is the highest in the entire region.
Several reports of job losses have been in circulation in recent months, but analysts opine that New Jersey is gaining more private-sector jobs than before, which is said to change the unemployed stats rapidly.
On the other hand, Washington County's unemployment rate has never been at its lowest level in five years until recently.
The Herald Mail Media reports that Washington County's jobless rate has fallen from 8.1 percent in October to 7.3 in November, according to the Maryland Department of Labor and Licensing and Regulation.
The figure is said to be "the largest gain, percentage-wise was in retail trade," says executive director of the Western Maryland Consortium Peter Thomas.
Thomas adds that the increase in retail and transportation sectors' employment "tells you the economy is doing better. We are seeing this long, drawn-out recovery continue to plod along and maybe even gain a little steam."
However, Thomas said the jobless numbers might go up again in January or February as many retailers plan to reduce holiday employment and other industries, such as construction.
