No WhiteWash!

Jobs and Unemployment

Kingsport has led the Tri-Cites area with the highest unemployment rate of 11.8 percent for January, 2010.  For well over a year, Kingsport has been running a higher unemployment rate which cannot be blamed solely on Eastman.

It is important to note that this 11.8 percent unemployment rate for Kingsport is not a true indicator of the actual unemployment rate.  The rate does not reflect those who have given up trying to find a job or those who work as a contractor.

The sad news is that as these unemployed folks look for employment to support their families, they may be forced to move out of Kingsport to take jobs elsewhere.

Household Median Income for Tennessee Counties

Below is the household median income for the top 20 Tennessee Counties that had the largest retail sales. The household median income is for the county and may be different for cities within the county. Below is the household median Income for Sullivan County cities

Kingsport $34,391 – Individuals below poverty level 18.0%

Bristol $36,454 – Individuals below poverty level 14.6%

Sullivan County – Individuals below poverty level 15.8%

Below is the household income distribution for Kingsport and the household median income for Kingsport is $34,391. In the graph below there are 2,636 people who are living in poverty.

Sullivan County Average Annual Wage by Major Industry

Below is a 2007 Average Annual Wage by Major Industry comparison for Sullivan County and Tennessee.  The graph below is from the State of Tennessee and shows the average wages if you were employed.  The unemployment rate for June 2009 was 12.7 percent for Kingsport

Median household income (in 2007 inflation-adjusted dollars)

• Kingsport $34,391
• Bristol $36,374
• Sullivan County $37,559
• Tennessee $41,821

  

Miami-Dade County, Florida judge rules red light camera program violates state law.

A Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge has ruled that red light cameras may not be legally used to issue traffic citations in the state of Florida. Judge Gerald Bagley yesterday dismissed charges against motorist Richard Masone who had received a red light camera ticket in the mail from American Traffic Solutions (ATS). The company operates the program on behalf of the city of Aventura.

"What I’m doing is pretty much tracking the advisory opinion offered by the attorney general that tickets should be issued by a law enforcement officer who has observed the action on the part of the alleged violator running a red light," Judge Bagley ruled from the bench. "So the fact that there is not any other components, if you will, to this unmanned camera, such as an officer or any other mechanism for observing the actions of the alleged violator, I find that to be invalid

Read more via Florida Court Rules Red Light Cameras Illegal.

NASHVILLE – The state’s fiscal year continues its trend of negative tax revenue growth, with tax collections falling below budgeted estimates again in December. Finance and Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz today announced that state revenue collections for December – reflecting November retail sales activity – were $766.7 million, which is $54.2 million less than the state budgeted.

“December tax collections represent the 19th consecutive month of negative sales tax growth,” Goetz said. “At the end of the fiscal year, on June 30, we’ll have to adjust for any under collection in the current fiscal year, and make sure our budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 reflects the revenue base available moving forward.”

On an accrual basis, December is the fifth month in the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

The general fund was under collected by $50.8 million and the four other funds were under collected by $3.4 million.

Sales tax collections were $16.6 million less than the estimate for December.  The December growth rate was negative 2.88%. For five months revenues are under collected by $138.6 million, and the growth rate is negative 6.65%.

Franchise and excise taxes combined were $29.5 million below the budgeted estimate of $143.8 million. For five months revenues are under collected by $5.4 million.

Gasoline and motor fuel collections for December decreased by 2.70% and they were $4.3 million below the budgeted estimate of $66.7 million.  For five months revenues are under collected by $9.9 million.

Tobacco tax collections were $5.6 million below the budgeted estimate of $25.7 million, and for five months they are $3.8 million above the budgeted estimate.

Inheritance and estate taxes were over collected by $2.6 million for the month.

All other taxes were under collected by a net of $800,000.

Year-to-date collections for five months were $169 million less than the budgeted estimate. The general fund was under collected by $147.1 million and the four other funds were under collected by $21.9 million.

The budgeted revenue estimates for 2009-2010 are based on the State Funding Board’s consensus recommendation adopted by the second session of the 106th General Assembly in May of 2009. and are available on the state’s Web site at http//www.tn.gov/finance/bud/budget.html.

It’s a slow day in a small town and
streets are deserted.
Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody
is living on credit.
A rich tourist drives through town, stops at the
motel, and lays a $100
bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms
upstairs to pick one for the night.

As soon as he walks upstairs, the owner
grabs the bill and runs
next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the
street to retire
his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off
to pay his bill to
his supplier, the Farmer’s Co-op.

The guy at the Farmer’s Co-op takes the
$100 and runs to pay his
debt to the local prostitute, who has also been
facing hard times and has
had to offer her “services” on credit.

The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off
her room bill with the hotel owner.

The hotel proprietor then places the $100
back on the counter so
the rich traveler will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveler comes down the
stairs, states that
the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100
bill and leaves town.

No one produced anything. No one earned
anything. However, the
whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the
future with a lot more optimism.

And this, ladies
and gentlemen, is how the United States
Government is
conducting business today.

These affordable metro areas offer sunny weather, plenty of seniors and rosy economic outlooks.

Below are the top ten cities.  Go to Forbes.com to see the rest of the list.

Seasonally Adjusted Rate Down 0.2 Percentage Point from October

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Commissioner of Labor & Workforce Development James Neeley announced today Tennessee’s unemployment rate for November was 10.3 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from the October rate of 10.5 percent.

“As the year ends, we’re seeing evidence the economy is bottoming out and beginning to show some modest employment growth, which is encouraging news,” reported Labor Commissioner James Neeley.

The November rate a year ago was 7.2 percent. The national unemployment rate for November 2009 was 10.0 percent, down from the October rate of 10.2 percent.

Major Changes in Estimated Nonagricultural Employment
October 2009 to November 2009

According to the Business Survey, 7,300 job gains occurred in retail trade; 1,800 in professional and business services; and 1,300 in health care and social assistance. Major employment decreases occurred in durable goods manufacturing, down by 1,800; arts, entertainment and recreation declined by 1,300; and mining and construction declined by 1,000 jobs.

Major Changes in Estimated Nonagricultural Employment
November 2008 to November 2009

Year-over-year increases occurred in health care and social assistance, up by 7,500; federal government increased 1,500; and local government educational services gained 1,100. Manufacturing decreased by 29,800 jobs; mining and construction lost 28,200; and trade, transportation and utilities declined by 23,300.

Volkswagen’s Chattanooga operations have received more than 65,000 applications for its local jobs, including 35,000 for production slots.

“We are overwhelmed by the response and we are very satisfied with the result. It gives us the confidence that we will be able to hire all the capable and flexible people we need to build our cars safely and with the highest quality,” said Hans-Herbert Jagla, executive vice president of human resources for VW’s Chattanooga operations.

Read more via Chattanooga Times Free Press | Chattanooga: 65,000 applications filed for VW jobs.

NASHVILLE – For the third consecutive month in the fiscal year that began July 1, state tax collections fell below budgeted estimates.  Finance & Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz today announced that state revenue collections for October were $698.2 million, which is 1.53% below October 2008 collections.  October collections reflect consumer spending in September.

“October is the 17th consecutive month in which sales tax collections have experienced negative growth,” Goetz said. “We are extremely concerned with the year-to-date negative growth in our tax collections, but we are committed to keeping the state’s budget in balance in a responsible manner during this extraordinary national economic downturn.”

“When the nation’s economy shows a strong improvement, Tennessee will likely follow, but there’s usually a good distance of time between national and state economic trends.”

On an accrual basis, October is the third month in the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

October collections were $31.7 million less than the budgeted estimate.  The general fund was under collected by $24.2 million and the four other funds were under collected by $7.5 million.

Sales tax collections were $38.6 million less than the estimate for October.  The October growth rate was negative 7.80 %. Year-to-date the growth rate is negative 8.47%.

Franchise and excise combined collections for October were $11.9 million, and they were $9.6 million above the budgeted estimate of $2.3 million.

Gasoline and motor fuel collections were $2.1 million more than the budgeted estimate of $71.8 million.  However, the sales tax allocation to the Transportation Equity Fund was a negative $7.8 million.  The net result was a shortfall in the highway fund estimate.

Tobacco tax collections for the month were over collected by $600,000, and October collections were $25.1 million.

Inheritance and Estate taxes were under collected by $4.6 million for the month.

All other taxes were under collected by a net of $800,000.

Year-to date collections for three months were $101.3 million less than the budgeted estimate. The general fund was under collected by $88.2 million and the four other funds were under collected by $13.1 million.

The budgeted revenue estimates for 2009-2010 are based on the State Funding Board’s consensus recommendation adopted by the first session of the 106th General Assembly in May of 2009, and are available on the state’s Web site at http//www.tn.gov/finance/bud/budget.html.

View Revenue Collections

Forbes.com lists affordable metro areas that offer sunny weather, jobs and rosy economic outlooks.  Forbes article

Click here for the full list of places to retire

State tax collections again fell below budgeted estimates in August, with sales tax collections recording negative growth for 18 of the last 20 months. Finance and Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz reported today that overall August revenues were $726.9 million, which is 5.74% below collections for August 2008. 

"The continued negative trend in tax collections requires us to continue to closely monitor revenues and adjust expenditures accordingly,” Goetz said.  “August sales tax figures reflect July consumer spending, and represent the first month of collections for the new fiscal year.

"We need to make sure we make adjustments to accommodate for the next several months so we keep the state’s budget in a balanced posture.”

On an accrual basis, August is the first month in the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

August collections were $28.2 million less than the budgeted estimate. The general fund was under collected by $30.5 million and the four other funds were over collected by $2.3 million.

Sales tax collections were $24.6 million less than the estimate for August.  The August growth rate was negative 8.21%.

Franchise and excise taxes combined were $279,000 above the budgeted estimate of $20.6 million.

Gasoline and motor fuel collections increased by 9.13% and were $5.2 million above the budgeted estimate of $68.2 million.

Tobacco tax collections for the month were under collected by $289,000.

Privilege tax collections were $1.4 million less than the budgeted estimate of $17.6 million.

Inheritance tax collections were $3.0 million below the budgeted estimate.

All other taxes were under collected by a net of $4.4 million.

The budgeted revenue estimates for 2009-2010 are based on the State Funding Board’s consensus recommendation adopted by the first session of the 106th General Assembly in May of 2009.

via August Revenues | TN.gov Newsroom.