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November 2009 State Unemployment Rates (Photo/CalculatedRiskBlog)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The federal prisoner incarcerated in the 1890s at the Ohio penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, who became known as the author O. Henry, wrote a now-famous story called Gift of the Magi, about a couple who loved each other but whose poverty forced them to give up something they cherished in order to afford the Christmas gift they knew they other wanted, that cannot help but be recalled by anyone who watched the 60 Minutes episode aired Sunday night about the heartache and despair that grips Wilmington, Ohio, a small community whose core was eviserated by the loss of 10,000 jobs but whose spirit awaits a chance, however slim, to rise from the beating it has and continues to take.
CBS 60 Minutes aires episode on Wilmington, Ohio
A transcript of Sunday's program, a follow up to the first one done on Wilmington in Green County, about 30 miles southeast of Dayton, about the desperation that befell the community when its major employer DHL Express closed its domestic delivery service, pictures the community as "exactly the kind of town that Washington hoped to rescue with stimulus spending, cash for clunkers and mortgage relief."
Pelley said "It's one of the unique things about the Great Recession - never before have so many people been out of work for the long term. At least, not since they've starting keeping records back in 1948. Today, 40 percent of all of those who've lost their jobs have been out of work for six months or more."
The 60 Minutes video, with its heartwrenching testimonials from residents of Wilmington who lost their job, their health insurance and in one case a loved one, and who will do anything to survive the economic vortex that will wash them down the drain if help of one kind or another doesn't arrive soon, will create a lump in your throat and tear in your eye.
Ohio and U.S. Employment Situation (Seasonally Adjusted)
Ohio's unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in November, relatively unchanged from 10.5 percent in October, according to data released this morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment increased 5,400 over the month, from 5,104,000 in October to 5,109,400 in November.
"The number of employed Ohioans rose slightly in November, but not enough to produce a significant change in the unemployment rate," ODJFS Director Douglas Lumpkin said. "An increase in service-providing employment was partially offset by a slight decrease in goods-producing jobs."
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in November was 623,000, up from 618,000 in October. The number of unemployed has increased by 199,000 in the past 12 months from 424,000. The November unemployment rate for Ohio was up from 7.1 percent in November 2008.
The U.S. unemployment rate for November was 10.0 percent, down from 10.2 percent in October.
Will work for hope
With budget holes near term and in the distance forcing Gov. Ted Strickland to cut government workers or programs or both more than the billions he has already been forced to cut in the first three years of his four-year term, residents of Wilmington have good reason to believe that their is little hope they can believe in anymore.
Follow me on Twitter @ohionewsbureau. Read more stories on people, politics and government in Ohio here.
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