[DonaldC]

“In some areas, such as California’s central valley and cities in Nevada, unemployment rates will stay at or above 10 percent through 2013”

Sooner or later this was bound to happen regardless of who is in the White House. I just wonder if this is the new normal for our nation.

[Nick Danger]

It's a malaise, I tell ya.

[ClearCase_guy]

"The effort to ameliorate the human and economic costs of unemployment needs to be sustained, and targeted directly to those metro areas where so much of the labor force is underutilized, unable to contribute to our nation's economic growth,"

Translation: Reparations will continue.

[jwparkerjr]

re: Jobless rates seen high for many more years

Of course they will be. Where are new jobs going to come from? Many of the companies who laid people off are out of business. They certainly won't be hiring anyone soon. Others who were able to keep their doors open did so by cutting their labor costs to the bone. They won't be bringing anyone back until business picks up, and where is that new business going to come from? And those who do see a need for more help will certainly not be rushing to hire as long as they have no idea what wild hair Congress and Obama might get up their behind and pile more taxes and fees.

re: mayors will push the president to put direct fiscal relief for cities in the budget

And just where do they propose the money for his relief should come from. Uncle Sam is tapped out. And so are his kids and his kids’ kids.

I hate to be so gloomy, but darned if I see where there is ANY improvement on the horizon. Spending too much of what we didn't have is what helped get us into this hole. And the only proposal Obama and company can come up with is to spend even more.