Monday, January 25, 2010

Examiner article: Unemployment up

Unemployment rises in Colorado to 7.3 percent
January 22, 2:57 PM Denver Economy Examiner Ryan McMaken

Colorado's unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) increased six-tenths of one percentage point from 6.7 to 7.3 percent in December, according to new data released today by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Nationally, the unemployment rate remained at 10 percent for the second month, according to the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). December's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Colorado was 7.5 percent.

Year over year, the December rate increased in Colorado from 6.0 to 7.3, and the national rate increased from 7.4 percent to 10.0 percent.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Consumer prices down 0.2% in West, nationwide

Here's my latest piece as the Economy Examiner for Examiner.com:

Consumer prices fell 0.2 percent in Western states, including Colorado, from November to December. Prices in the region have risen 2.2 percent since December 2008 according to the report released Friday by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nationwide, consumer prices in December increased 2.7 percent over December 2008 and fell 0.2 percent since November 2009. Numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

...

Generalizing regional data to Colorado can be problematic. The West, as defined by the BLS, includes a large number of states with economic conditions that differ from Colorado's. Nevada and California, for example, are both included in the region yet differ significantly from Colorado in employment figures and in real estate prices. States with high unemployment and depressed real estate and more likely to see falling overall prices than states with more moderate unemployment and with more stable real estate prices.

Read the full article.