Smart Growth

Morning Must Reads: Your End of Summer Reading Assignment - Understanding the Ryan Budget

Hi all, a combination of vacations and the rush to finish the State of Working Pennsylvania 2012 mean our blogging could be a bit spotty over the next week or so. Bygones!

Onto today's Morning Must Reads.

Third and State This Week: Marcellus Shale Action, Pat Toomey's Deficit Plan and Latest PA Job Numbers

This week, we blogged about October job growth in Pennsylvania, legislative action on a Marcellus Shale fee, and a deficit plan from Senator Pat Toomey that would increase after-tax income inequality even further in the U.S.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

Morning Must Reads: Job Numbers, Property Taxes and Smart Growth

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry reported Thursday that the number of jobs in the commonwealth grew by 13,800 in October, as the unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.1%. A key factor in October's relatively good performance was a pause in public-sector job losses.

So the good news is we had one positive month; the bad news is unless we have more months like October, the labor market is more or less stuck in neutral. Back in January, we estimated that the jobs deficit in Pennsylvania was 257,000 jobs (this is the number of jobs Pennsylvania needs to get back to full employment). The October jobs deficit is just over 237,000 jobs. In other words, the pace of job growth is such that we are back to full employment in more than eight and half years.

Weak job growth also means less revenue for local governments. Lackawanna County is set to raise property taxes by 38%.

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