Perriello blasts Senate on unemployment benefits

Edited by Chris Graham freepress2@ntelos.net   Fifth District Congressman Tom Perriello today released a statement blasting the U.S. Senate for playing politics with unemployment benefits and Medicare payments to doctors. “The elites in the Senate may have forgotten what it’s like on Main Street for...

AFPBusiness.com: Unemployment holds at 9.7 percent

Edited by Chris Graham AFPBusiness.com    The unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment fell in construction and information, while temporary help services added jobs.    Read more on AFPBusiness.com....

Unemployment rate takes unexpected dip

  Story by Chris Graham freepress2@ntelos.net Don’t get too excited, but the nation’s unemploynent rate made a move in the right direction in January, falling to 9.7 percent from 10.0 percent in December. “It is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or...

Local officials back jobs program

   Staff Report News tips: freepress2@ntelos.net As U.S. mayors gathered in Washington this week to meet with the Obama administration about unemployment and the economy, Virginia local government officials and community leaders are calling for the creation of a Community Jobs program. The jobs program...

Looking up

   Column by David Reynolds Submit guest columns: freepress2@ntelos.net Now let’s see if I’ve got this right. We are just into the new year and the sky has not yet fallen. Yes, I know, no one actually predicted that the clouds would fall. Nevertheless, there were those who kept saying that whatever...

Fifth District Report

Column by Tom Perriello I want to update Virginians on some of the efforts I am undertaking in Congress to get our economy back on track. You may recall in the Sept. 28 edition of this newsletter, I wrote that the U.S. House voted to extend unemployment benefits only in states where the unemployment rate is...

Forbes votes for unemployment-benefits extension

Congressman Randy Forbes (R-4th) announced today that he voted in favor of H.R. 3548, to allow workers to draw an additional 14 weeks of federal unemployment benefits after exhausting their regular 26 weeks of state compensation. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the bill is revenue neutral and...

Webb pushes unemployment-benefits extension

Sen. Jim Webb today called on the Senate to pass a comprehensive proposal, which he cosponsored, to extend unemployment insurance by up to 14 additional weeks for jobless workers in all 50 states. Nearly two million out-of-work Americans face expiring benefits by the end of the year. The critical measure was...

Unemployment rate up nationally

The employment situation in Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley is looking a bit better. The situation nationally – not so much. The national unemployment rate inched up from 9.7 percent in August to 9.8 percent in September, according to a report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The...

Employment numbers continue to improve

The state unemployment rate dropped in August to three percentage points below the national average, and the rate also dipped locally in the Central Shenandoah Valley. The state rate was at 6.5 percent in August, down from 6.9 percent in July and 7.3 percent in June, according to data on the Virginia...

Perriello working on unemployment-benefits issue

Congressman Tom Perriello is fighting to extend unemployment benefits in Virginia after the U.S. House passed a bill that did not benefit Virginia workers. Last week, the U.S. House passed H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act, which only applied to states with unemployment rates of 8.5...

Unemployment claims down

In the week ending Sept. 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 530,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 551,000. The four-week moving average was 553,500, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 564,500. The...

Unemployment down in Virginia for second straight month

Gov. Tim Kaine today highlighted a second consecutive month of declining unemployment rates in Virginia. The Commonwealth’s August seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.5 percent, following rates of 7.1 percent in June and 6.9 percent in July. The August rate makes Virginia fifth lowest among...

Initial unemployment claims down

In the week ending Sept. 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 545,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 557,000. The four-week moving average was 563,000, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 571,750. The...

Kaine: State needs line of credit to meet unemployment obligations

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Tuesday filed a request with the U.S. Department of Labor for a repayable advance of $252 million from the Federal Unemployment Account to meet the obligations of the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Program through December 2009. With increased demand for benefits and reduced...

Employment numbers continue to improve

Good news on the local employment front – unemployment rates in the five localities in the Augusta and Rockingham areas were down in July. More good news at the state level – Virginia saw its unemployment rate dip from 7.3 percent in June to 6.9 percent in July, according to data released by the...

Unemployment claims dip

In the week ending Aug. 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 570,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 580,000. The four-week moving average was 566,250, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 571,000.  The...

Report: Unemployment claims up

In the week ending Aug. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 576,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 561,000. The four-week moving average was 570,000, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 565,750. The...