By: Diane Benjamin Did you file for unemployment? How much are you receiving? Case in point: I know a person who works part time and was approved for $90 a week. Because of the DC bills that will bankrupt the country, that person is getting $90 a week plus $600. That’s more than this person […]
By: Diane Benjamin A website called SmartAsset just published a new list of: The Least-Stressed Cities in America – 2019 Edition https://smartasset.com/financial-advisor/least-stressed-cities-in-america-2019 Bloomington made the list! According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the real unemployment rate is: https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.il_bloomington_msa.htm Since the survey claims they are using 2017 data, see the REAL unemployment rates in […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Illinois Department of Employment Security issued the January report last week. The paper did a story, the rest of the media mostly ignored it or didn’t report the numbers. While Peoria gained 4,400 jobs comparing January 2018 and January 2019, Bloomington-Normal LOST 1,600. That is a lot of jobs that no […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last week the local media reported the low local unemployment rate. Here’s an example from WJBC: http://www.wjbc.com/2018/03/15/bloomington-normal-jobless-rate-remains-lowest-in-state-2/ They must be afraid to report the rest of the story: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/SMU17140100000000001?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true This chart is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics These numbers are the actual number of people employed – in thousands. In the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unemployment numbers for January 2017 are now available on the Illinois Department of Employment Security website: http://www.ides.illinois.gov/LMI/Pages/Current_Monthly_Unemployment_Rates.aspx Unemployment is on the way up in Bloomington-Normal. The first column is Jan-17 – then Dec-16 the Jan-16. Of course the closing of Mitsubishi has hurt the local economy, but local governments still hasn’t figured […]
By: Diane Benjamin Headline to an article in today’s bird cage liner: More people working in Central Illinois . . . Evidently math is NOT required for journalists, sorry, people who call themselves journalists. Maybe they just typed in the wrong numbers. We are all used to their “Corrections” page. Here’s their report: 91,533 people […]
Before the citizens of Bloomington are forced to fund more downtown spending: Illinois workforce shrinks by largest margin in state history 20 Jul 2014 | Michael Lucci Illinois Policy Institute In June, Illinois suffered the largest monthly workforce loss in recorded state history. June’s workforce loss was worse than the worst month of the Great […]
The Democrats just sent another email – see below. Evidently the economy is really bad since they predict more people will lose jobs by the end of the year. by: Diane Benjamin Politicians obviously stretch the truth. Flat out LYING to achieve some political agenda is now all too common. The Senate is debating whether […]
WASHINGTON, August 3, 2013 — A White House spokesman called July’s 7.4 percent unemployment rate proof that “the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.” He said it with a straight face. The data tell another story: America remains mired in the Great Obama Depression. The unemployment rate that the administration […]
7/18/2013 John Klingner Policy Research Assistant Illinois Policy Institute Illinois has the nation’s second-worst unemployment rate. At 9.1 percent, it’s 1.5 percentage points higher than the national average of 7.6 percent. The lack of jobs continues to be a major burden to the people of Illinois, at both the state and local level. A year-over-year comparison […]
More people have left the workforce than got a new job during the recovery—by a factor of nearly three. By MORTIMER ZUCKERMAN In recent months, Americans have heard reports out of Washington and in the media that the economy is looking up—that recovery from the Great Recession is gathering steam. If only it were true. […]
by: Diane Benjamin The American people aren’t really interested in immigration reform, not when the country has so many other problems. In poll after poll, immigration is way down the list – Amnesty NEVER makes the list unless you are a progressive Democrat. The NSA is collecting massive amounts of data and turning the United […]
The mainstream media is absolutely giddy that the U.S. unemployment rate has hit a “four-year low” of 7.7 percent. But is unemployment in the United States actually going down? After all, you would think that it should be. The Obama administration has “borrowed” more than 6 trillion dollars from future generations of Americans, interest rates […]
I heard Walmart is cutting employee hours. Seasonal employees they had planned to keep are now laid off. Employees report business way down. Is the economy so good nobody shops at Walmart anymore? Are all the other stores hiring (Jewel, Kroger, Cub, Meijer, etc) to take care of all the people with pockets full of […]
Many businesses plan to bring on more part-time workers next year, trim the hours of full-time employees or curtail hiring because of the new health care law, human resource firms say. Their actions could further dampen job growth, which already is threatened by possible federal budget cutbacks resulting from the tax increases and spending cuts […]
Facts alone are enough to decide the election. The polls are meaningless, the American people aren’t stupid enough to fall for them. Gas Prices: 1.84 when Obama took office – hovering around twice that now. Fill up once a week? That’s is at least $40 a week x 52 – $2,080 per year – more than 1 […]
by Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has a HUGE fear of being exposed for their bias reporting. This is in YOUR hands. They will never reform unless the citizens DEMAND it or quit paying them. Maybe their advertisers need to be contacted and asked why they are willing to support the spreading of flat out lies! […]
January 2010 Oil price 1/15: 78.00 (NYSE) Scott Brown (R) wins Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) old seat; health care reform on the ropes. Supreme Court issues major decision on campaign finance reform; Democrats vow to pursue legislative fix. President Obama delivers State of the Union address; Justice Samuel Alito shakes head as Obama scolds high-court […]
Biggest problems facing the country: (in no particular order) massive debt illegal immigration high unemployment high energy prices housing crisis healthcare costs What do they all have in common? Government CAUSED them! massive debt – obvious, we are adding over $1 Trillion of debt a year illegal immigration – Federal government has failed it’s duty […]
by Diane Benjamin Accurate fair reporting allows media to be trusted for information. For YEARS the Pantagraph has proven to be untrustworthy. We all hoped, with new owners, things would improve. NOT A CHANCE! Today they posted a story, locally written, in the Money section titled “McLean County Jobless Rate Creeps Up In June”. According […]
With all the bad news on the economy, unemployment, threats of war, Muslim Brotherhood, gas prices, national debt – this is the best we could come up with:
Are you better off today? January 2009 Unemployment 7.2% Gasoline Price 1.626 (CNN) Oil price 1/16: 36.51 (NYSE) House passes stimulus bill February 2009 First Chicago TEA Party – 2/27/09 Obama orders 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan Tom Daschle withdraws as Health and Human Services secretary nominee Obama signs children’s health care bill into law […]
