Tag: West Virginia

Revised July Numbers and Weak August Job Growth Raise Questions About Slump Again

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Jobs in the blue collar sectors of construction, manufacturing, and mining and logging increased by 12,000 in August. The big news is not, however, the August numbers, but the revised numbers from July. Last month’s report was fairly positive about the state of manufacturing as it appeared to be finally climbing out of a slump. […]

Manufacturing Gains in July, But a Weak Month for Construction and Mining

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Jobs in the blue collar sectors of construction, manufacturing, and mining and logging increased by 15,000 in July, but in a surprise twist, that growth was mostly in manufacturing, not construction. Job growth was primarily in the South and West, with the addition of 12,400 and 8,300 blue collar jobs, respectively. The Northeast only added […]

May Marks Another Weak Month for Blue Collar Jobs

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Jobs in construction, manufacturing, and mining and logging increased by 8,000 jobs in May.  The story here is the continuing weakness in manufacturing and mining and logging now coupled with a dismal month for construction. But looking at individual states and regions, a clear picture is starting to emerge about who is winning and who […]

Little to No Growth in Mining and Logging and Manufacturing as Slump Continues into April

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Employment in construction, manufacturing, and mining and logging increased by 34,000 jobs in April, which sounds positive until you separate the data by sector. Growth in the last month was driven largely by construction, with manufacturing growth falling short for the third month in a row and mining and logging seeing a decrease of 3,000 […]

February Marked by Job Loss and Wild Weather

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While overall job growth in February 2019 was slow, employment in construction, manufacturing and mining and logging actually decreased by 0.14 percent or 29,800 jobs. States in the Midwest and West regions experienced the biggest drops, with decreases of 21,500 and 17,400 jobs, respectively. The only Census region that saw increases was the South, with […]

Manufacturing Employment Increased Under Trump but Lags Prerecession Levels

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Employment in construction, manufacturing and mining and logging increased by 0.4 percent or 74,000 in December of 2018. Forty-one states and the District of Columbia gained jobs in these “blue collar sectors.” Texas saw the largest gains for the month, adding 10,900 jobs, an increase of 0.6 percent. Next was Florida at +7,600 jobs (+0.8 […]

The Cost of Coal

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At a recent rally in West Virginia, Donald Trump expressed preference for coal-derived energy over renewables by labeling wind farms as avian killing fields. Trump’s concern for wildlife is unconvincing. To loosen restrictions on the fossil fuel industry his administration has pushed deregulatory efforts to mute climate change actions by rolling back car emissions standards […]

Labor Day is a Reminder that ‘More Jobs’ Should Mean ‘Better Jobs’

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On June 10, 1872, an estimated 150,000 workers marched through New York City to celebrate the end of a three-month, statewide strike. The purpose of the strike? The eight-hour workday. Across the country, similar victories soon followed. In the battle for an eight-hour workday, workers faced opposition at every step. Employers reduced wages to accommodate […]

Job Gains in Manufacturing Leads Increase in Blue Collar Employment

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Blue collar employment grew by 0.3 percent in July as the nation added 52,000 jobs in construction, manufacturing, and mining and logging. The number of jobs in these industries was 13.9 percent of total nonfarm jobs in the United States last month. This is a slight increase from July of 2017 when these jobs were […]

Is WV’s Economic ‘Comeback’ Real?

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This article was originally posted at the Charleston Gazette-Mail. You can read the original here. Over the last few months there has been a flurry of op-eds and articles from big corporations and Republican lawmakers arguing that state budget cuts and low-wage policies like “Right-to-Work” are resulting in a booming economy in our state. Some […]