Young adult employment during the recent recession

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The recent recession lasted from December 2007 to June 2009 and had different consequences for various demographic groups, with higher job losses affecting African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, workers with lower levels of education, and younger workers.

Census Bureau Report Shows Shared Households Increased 11.4 Percent from 2007 to 2010

The report, Sharing a Household: Household Composition and Economic Well-Being: 2007-2010 [PDF], analyzes data on household composition and income from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey. The report reveals that adults joined or combined their households in greater numbers and in higher proportions following the most recent recession than they did prior to the recession.

In spring 2007, there were 19.7 million shared households — defined as a household with at least one “additional” adult. An additional adult is a person 18 or older who is not enrolled in school and is neither the householder, the spouse nor the cohabiting partner of the householder. By spring 2010, the number of shared households had increased to 22.0 million while all households increased by only 1.3 percent.

More info HERE.

Recession employment for mothers

Employment during the 2007–2009 recession
The U.S. economy officially entered a recession in December 2007. Nonfarm employment peaked in January 2008 and then entered a period of steady decline.

Share of married-couple families with an employed mother at its lowest, 1994-2010
In 2010, the mother was employed in 65.4 percent of married-couple families with children under the age of 18—a record low for the series. The series began in 1994. The mother was employed in 67.0 percent of families with children maintained by women in which no spouse was present.

Women’s Employment During the Recovery [PDF].

Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 2.0 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2011, compared to the 1.6-percent increase for the 12-month period ending March 2010.

The Small Business Economy: A Report to the President 2009

The 2009 edition of The Small Business Economy documents the 2008 recession’s effects on small business as well as their role in the 2008 economy. The report includes chapters focusing on the state of small business (with brief subsections on small business challenges such as health care and globalization, as well as contributions in job creation and innovation) and financing. Appendices include additional data on small firms and a summary of Advocacy research published in 2008.

• Small businesses in most industries, especially in the construction industry hard hit by the housing market downturn, saw declines in employment.

• Average unincorporated self-employment fell from 10.4 million in 2007 to 0.1 million in 2008 and averaged 9.6 million by November and December 2008.

• Incorporated self-employment remained steady at 5.8 million on average over the 2007-2008 period.

• Some surveys found small firms expressing less willingness to expand, hire new workers, invest in new plant and equipment, or borrow money, at least in the near term.

• Health care costs remain a major concern for small firms: according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average annual cost of a family premium for employer-sponsored health insurance increased 119 percent between 1999 and 2008, with a 5 percent increase in 2008 from the previous year.

• Real exports have risen steadily since 2005, outpacing the growth in imports; the value of real exports increased 6.2 percent in 2008.

• Most small businesses faced a less accommodating credit market, especially in the second half of 2008.

• Lenders exhibited widening interest rate spreads and tightening terms of lending.

• Business borrowing plunged in the fourth quarter of 2008 to a low annual rate comparable to the levels experienced in the 2001 recession.

• According to June 2007-June 2008 Call Report data, developments in the financial markets had a limited impact on small business lending in the first half of 2008.

• Despite the lack of very current financial data, a number of indicators suggest that the flow of funds to small firms was much curtailed by the end of 2008.

A copy of The Small Business Economy: A Report to the President 2009 can be found here (PDF) and the research summary can be found here (PDF).

Tracking Economic Recession and Recovery in America’s 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas

Beneath the constant drumbeat of headline numbers emanating from Washington on U.S. jobs, national unemployment, GDP, and home prices lies a complex, diverse set of 366 metropolitan economies. While no metro area has been immune from the current economic downturn, the pain is unevenly distributed. Some have felt only modest effects, and a few show early signs of recovery, while others are undergoing a wrenching restructuring that may fundamentally alter their economic trajectory.

The MetroMonitor, an interactive barometer of the health of America’s metropolitan economies, looks “beneath the hood” of national economic statistics to portray the diverse metropolitan landscape of recession and recovery across the country. It aims to enhance understanding of the underpinnings of national economic trends, and to promote public- and private-sector responses to the downturn that take into account metro areas’ unique starting points, weaknesses, and strengths—the potential “grassroots green shoots”—for eventual recovery.

NPR: Recession Adds To Hurdles Facing U.S. Census

A year from now, the U.S. will conduct its decennial population count. The findings are used to re-apportion congressional districts, disburse federal funding — even decide where new traffic lights go. But the economic crisis threatens to make this daunting task even harder. There is special concern about minority groups, which are traditionally hard to count.

Full audio here.

The Impact of a New Recession on State and Local Governments

Rockefeller Institute Senior Fellow Donald J. Boyd examines the impact a new recession is likely to have on state and local governments. Boyd warns that, unless the economy rebounds, volatility in most state revenue systems may force midyear spending reductions this year and other unpopular policy actions in 2009. Boyd’s new research on both states and localities, in a March 14 presentation to analysts at Fidelity Investments, expands upon his recent paper that analyzed how state finances would be affected by a recession. Both reports are available here.