Rising unemployment hits 98 percent of metro areas

AP Economics
Feb 5, 2009


Metropolitan areas across the Southeast and Midwest are seeing some of the steepest increases in joblessness, stung by their dependence on factories serving the struggling housing and auto sectors.

That is one of the key trends that emerges from a Labor Department report released Wednesday showing December unemployment rates rose in 98 percent of the country's largest metropolitan areas, compared with a year earlier.

More than 100,000 job cuts have been announced since then by a wide range of industries, sparing few communities. The government's next monthly snapshot of nationwide unemployment is expected to show the January rate climbed to a 17-year high.

"It used to be they'd at least take your application. They don't even do that any more," said Heather Allen of Elkhart, Ind., an area that had the biggest annual gain in its unemployment rate. "Places just aren't hiring."

The recession, now in its second year, was caused by the housing, credit and financial crises. To survive, companies are eliminating jobs and cutting or freezing pay, among other cost-saving measures. Layoffs were announced Wednesday by Botox maker Allergan Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc., which cut a combined 1,700 workers.
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SOURCE:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/...o_unemployment