Payrolls Declined in 25 U.S. States, Led by NC

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-21/payrolls-fell-in-25-states-in-september-led-by-north-carolina.html

Payrolls fell in 25 U.S. states in September, led by North Carolina and Ohio, a sign the weakness in the job market is broad-based.

Employers cut staff by 22,200 in North Carolina last month and by 21,600 in Ohio, according to Labor Department data issued today in Washington. The report also showed the jobless rate decreased in 25 states. Nevada continued to lead the nation in unemployment with a rate of 13.4 percent.

The economy needs to generate faster sustained job growth to lower unemployment and spur the consumer spending that makes up about 70 percent of the economy. A Labor Department report on Oct. 7 showed employers added 103,000 payrolls last month, almost half of them telecommunications workers returning from a strike, and the jobless rate was 9.1 percent for a third month.

After Nevada, the jobless rate was highest in California at 11.9 percent and Michigan at 11.1 percent.

Unemployment has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, the longest stretch of such elevated joblessness since monthly records began in 1948.

Sustained increases of around 200,000 a month are needed to bring unemployment down about a percentage point over a year, according to Eric Green, chief market economist at TD Securities Inc. in New York.