WASHINGTON STATE IS IN THE TOILET

OUR ECONOMY IS DOING A COUNTER CLOCKWISE TANK


As many of you know I have been writing about the current DOUBLE DIP RECESSION we have here in Washington State. However, the new unemployment June numbers are a MAJOR DISASTER. 627,384 people are now out of work in this state! That is an increase of about 11,000 over May.

The U3 number in Seattle/Everett is now 9.1% which is the percent of the workforce collecting unemployment benefits in this region. In Snohomish County that number is 10.1% and in Pierce County it is 10%. To give you an idea of the calamity 281,144 people in this state are currently collecting unemployment benefits, scheduled to run out for more than 100,000 of these folks next month.

I have been involved with employment matters as an executive recruiter for more than 40 years in Washington and I have never seen anything like this DISASTER.

You are never going to read any of this with the local media who are lying or mostly brain dead. There is pain and suffering going on all over the state with a lot of folks who are defaulting on their mortgages or their credit cards. Things are bleak and you will never read or hear about it in the Seattle Times or KING, KOMO, or KIRO TV! They all love the pathological liar in the White House.

On the housing front RealtyTrac is now reporting that 30,010 homes have been foreclosed on in our state and the banks and lenders have begun dumping these properties on the market at values that are having a major impact ON YOU: $199,000 per short sale! In King County one in every 400 homes were foreclosed on June and in Snohomish County one in every 350 homes were doomed.

In case you don’t know how that affects you; try this: go to this website, put in you address and look at how your property values have dropped and how UNDER WATER YOU ARE.

I want to impart a message to ALL Republican candidates running for office this and next year: THERE IS ONLY ONE ISSUE AND THAT IS JOBS AND THE ECONOMY. You can scream and yell about the mentally ill maniac in the White House, but you miss the point.

ONE OUT OF EVERY FIVE

UNEMPLOYED IN WASHINGTON STATE

In what can only be described as a DISASTER the latest unemployment numbers have hit the Department of Employment Security and the Department of Revenue in Olympia like a sledge hammer. I talked to two Washington State economists who both told me that the latest numbers were “extremely depressing”. Speaking to me on the condition of anonymity one gentleman said this: “We have a major underlying economic problem in the state and I believe it has to do with housing. Housing construction has been the driving force for employment here in Washington for more than 20 years and now it is gone!”

If you look at these numbers I wish to explain: what is normally titled as the “unemployment rate” is actually the U3 number or the percentage of the workforce collecting unemployment benefits. The U6 number is the actual number of folks that are unemployed. Now there are morons in the media who want to say that the U6 number also includes the UNDER EMPLOYED. That is a load of male bovine excrement something I am very familiar with: I clean it out of barn every morning!

OK, let’s look at the numbers. They actually look better in April than in March. Unfortunately the reason they look better is the fact the 44,170 folks left the workforce because THEY COULD NOT FIND A JOB. Hard hit was King County where 18,220 left the workforce and in Snohomish County the number came in at 7,180! Based on my analysis it is youth from 16 to 25 years old, African-Americans, other minorities and WOMEN who are primarily the largest percentage of this group!

What is even worse is that so far this year 34,817 homes have been foreclosed on in this state. King County and Seattle have been hit hard with 1,077 foreclosures in April, alone. My sources are telling me that about 65,000 homes are currently in default in Washington. That means the housing industry is a mess and not likely to recover anytime soon.

On top of all of this is the fact the nationally durable goods orders dropped in April at the biggest rate since 1932. In Washington State we were dramatically affected because of airplane production deliveries at Boeing: major downslide.

What impact does all of this have on you? Read the leftwing newspapers and view and listen to the BS on KING, KIRO, and KOMO about the state’s budget based on the state’s revenue! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS, FOLKS!

INFLATION FOOD SHOCKS ON THE WAY!

Obama Grocery Store Price Explosions!

Some of you may remember the Jimmy Carter inflation that damn near destroyed the USA. I remember going into the Safeway Store in the Kirkland Kingsgate neighborhood in 1975 and seeing a beef T-bone steak at $4.00 one day and the next day the same steak was $4.75. We had to drive up to a service station and spend an hour in line to buy gas! Folks stand by; the same inflation is about to happen in 2011.

What factors are involved?
1. Major flooding in Canada has impacted wheat production
2. Droughts in Northern China and Russia have destroyed their normal wheat production. Russia has now banned exportation of grains…Period! China’s corn crop is less than ½ of normal.
3. Recent flooding along the Mississippi River has had a catastrophic impact on Cotton, Corn, soybean and Rice production.
4. The FED is printing money at an all time record rate, QE2 ends in June and that will cause interest rates to rise for ALL lending.
5. Drought problems in Texas have led to major increases in Beef prices because of a high demand and low supply. Some herd sizes are down to 50% of normal.
6. High corn prices will have an impact for Poultry and Pork production and the prices for same including eggs. They are going up!
7. The Obama Administration has tried to ignore the above problems in order to get re-elected in 2012. Guess what? These morons are about to be moved back to Chicago.


Let’s review the coming catastrophe. Wheat from Canada is important to the planet and with these problems expect Pasta Prices to go ballistic. Here is the story.

Down south in Arkansas and the south flooding is causing major problems with the loss of more than 40% of the rice crop this year. It will take until the end of June to dry the fields and it will be too late to replant the rice which had to be in the ground (seedlings) by 5/1. Gas Refineries have had to shut down in Louisiana along the flooding Mississippi thus impacting the price and supply of gasoline.

Beef futures haven’t been this high in 45 years and if you eat beef you are in for some major shocks on the way. The lack of rainfall in Western Texas has cut available beef production by 50%. Read the bad news here!

One of the nation’s biggest problems is CORN! With massive subsidies on corn to produce ethanol for the commie environmental crack heads, the world will starve millions of people so the USA can pump that crap in your gas tank at the expense of YOU the tax payers. All Corn surpluses are gone and with the loss of 40,000,000+ bushels of Corn because of the flooding along the Mississippi River, don’t expect to buy corn flakes without taking out a 2nd mortgage on your home!

When Cotton prices spiked last fall, farmers all around the Mississippi River Delta planted millions of acres of cotton. Guess what? It has all been flooded and clothing prices will end up going thru the roof. Cotton is on its way to the highest prices per hundred weight in HISTORY.

Editor's note: Because of concerns about the Euro and the Dollar, commodity futures took a nose dive on 5/11 as options traders took profits. Don't expect these prices to last very long and you can expect major problems with higher food prices over the next 90 days to 6 months.

Breaking News: The Army Corps of Engineers is going to have to flood 3,000 Square Miles of farmland in order to save New Orleans. That means that rice corps this year is probably down to 30% of normal. That rice growing region is the 6th largest exporter of rice on this planet. You can imagine the problems in the east, Middle East, Latin America and other regions where the average wage for the vast poor is about $3 a day. They will have to revolt or starve to death!

DOUBLE DIP RECESSION IN WA STATE CONFIRMED!

Washington State Continues to Falter!

There was more national bad news from the US Department of Labor Friday Morning with the Obama U3 number going to 9% (that’s the percentage of the workforce collecting unemployment benefits) and the U6 number climbing to 17.8% (that’s the percentage of the workforce that is unemployed!). Even though hiring perked up some, the economy lost a net 190,000 jobs in April: NOT GOOD NEWS.

The latest numbers in Washington State has the U3 number at 9.7% or 340,330 and the U6 number at 599,963 which is the actual number of people unemployed in Washington State. Again a number of people left the workforce and gave up trying to find a job: 2,430. Snohomish County is still having a major problem with employment coming in at 10.1% for U3 and 18.4% for the U6 number. That means 70,157 people remain unemployed in SNO County.

Realtytrac’s March numbers were stunning with regard to State and County wide foreclosures. March foreclosures added 3,613 new defaults/foreclosures bringing the statewide total year to year to 35,049 foreclosures. King County led the foreclosure parade with 1,392 and Seattle was hit hard with another 490 foreclosures. For those of you who read the bogus, male bovine excrement story in Friday’s Seattle Times, I had a roll in the floor laugh at their expense: Link

Over the commercial real estate side of the fence the CBA or the Commercial Brokers Association in Washington State now has over 19,000 listings for rent, lease or sale: AN ALL TIME RECORD.

With regard to the billions in deficits that the State Legislature if fiddling around with in Olympia the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council has issued a report that is gloomy to say the least. Meaning: the state cannot count on sales tax revenue to fill up almost 6 Billion in deficits; instead they will have to cut more spending. With the idiot Democrats in control down in the SWAMP (Olympia) that does not sound like a very likely scenario.

Editor’s note: The State of Idaho business licensing department over at Coeur d'Alene has had to add more personnel to handle the increasing numbers of businesses in the Spokane area who are leaving the Evergreen State.

Seasonal Adjusted Numbers for those of you who read my blogs you know that these numbers that the Washington State Department of Employment Security and the US Department of Labor issue to the leftist press are nothing short of a manipulated LIE! The Seasonal adjusted numbers have no basis in reality

WASHINGTON STATE’S ECONOMY IN PERIL!

LATEST NUMBERS SUPPORT A DOUBLE DIP RECESSION

Employment: According to the Washington State Employment Security Department we lost 50,540 jobs in this state in January. The Evergreen State’s unemployment rate went up to 9.7% (the U3 number, or those who are collecting unemployment benefits). That means that 338,910 folks are on the U3 roles and that includes 15,910 new claims that have been filed, SO FAR! In addition the U6 number or the TOTAL number of folks who are unemployed or marginally employed increased to 642,880 as Washington’s U6 percentage rose to a record 18.4% in January. Particularly disturbing with these numbers is the fact that 64,930 folks dropped out of the work force around the state, because most of them have given up trying to find a job. Snohomish County was hit particularly hard with a new U3 number of 10.1% or 38,090 collecting benefits and a U6 number of 69,392!

For those of you who follow my blogs you know that I have said that the indications are that Washington is in a double dip recession. This is very bad news for the State Legislature awaiting news from the Department of Revenue about to issue its revenue forecast for the remainder of the year. With this many job losses, the news is not expected to be good. That means that the 6.8 Billion dollar deficit “can” the Democrats seek to “kick down the road” over into the next fiscal year on 7/1 may end up being a lot more than that figure.

In the all important housing market here in Washington, things are bleak to say the least. The latest RealtyTrac numbers are stark. 4,981 new home foreclosures and a total of 37,207 since this recession began. That depresses not just the sale of housing but also the value of homes on the market. With a large number or ARM’s about to be re-set over the next 60 days and with even more mortgages about to go “under water”, that will impact future foreclosures amongst many who are currently in default.

In conclusion, we are lagging the rest of the country, still struggling with what is being referred to as a “modest recovery”. Many analysts conclude that the three states on the West Coast are all suffering a double dip recession to include Oregon and California. Alan Greenspan has commented on the problems with the nation’s economy and his candid assessment is not very positive.

Editor's notes: With regard to the Sunday Seattle Times story about problems with the “Monster Can” that the moron Democrats have “kicked down the road”; It is nothing but a pack of lies. The real numbers: 20 Billion dollars in unfunded liabilities for the “Union” pension plans; and many other lies that exist only to confuse the voters in this state who ARE OBLIGATED TO PAY FOR THESE EXPENDITURES BY WAY OF TAXES! As for the reporter Mr. Andrew Garber, he obviously has a very low IQ or he is a liar! You decide! My blog on the matter is correct.

GREENSPAN LETS LOOSE

BOB CLARK

Candid Comments from the Former Fed Chief!

In a remarkable interview that occurred on CNBC early on Friday 3/4; Alan Greenspan made a number of comments that I doubt will ever be published (except by me) but here is what he said according to my notes.

“QE2 may have harmed the US economy, but we won’t know for a while just how much damage has been done!” Bernanke disagrees.

“The Todd-Frank Bill is very problematic and needs major changes. They need to be done ASAP. The US Regulatory environment is hurting the US economic recovery and that includes the Financial Reform Law (Todd-Frank).”

“Distressed home sales are dragging the economy down. When the subprime loans go underwater they default, leading to declines in prices brought about by foreclosures and short sales. Those price declines simply drag even more homes into default.” He also said, “Conventional loans rarely default when they go underwater.”

“Food price inflation will continue because as the emerging markets change their diets from grains to meat; supply and demand causes prices to rise. There is a finite amount of land on earth to grow grains to feed animals.”

A number of comments he made with regard to oil prices:

1. “Brent sea crude is the benchmark for oil prices.”
2. “$100 plus per barrel oil might derail the economic recovery.”

He also commented that the price of gold had to do with the number of corporations and individuals who are “concerned that the economy may not recover from the recession and are buying gold as a hedge.”

He said that, “Problems in Europe with the Euro could also derail a US economic recovery.”

Unemployment: Greenspan said that the “reason we are having a continued high unemployment rate has to do with the fact that before the recession businesses simply had to spend money to increase market share to improve earnings. After the recession companies began investing in ways to REDUCE COSTS. With productivity improvements they don’t have to have as many employees to do the same amount of work.”


Editor’s notes: Frankly this is the first time I have ever heard Greenspan this candid about much of anything. I was particularly stunned by his comments that seemed to me to be VERY NEGATIVE about the prospects of an economic recovery anytime soon.

Bob Clark’s Political and Economics Magazine

All The Latest on What is Happening Now

INFLATION HERE? ‘Ya Sure, You Betcha’ as they say in Ballard; famous for its bitters and that awful Lutefisk! It’s here folks and as reported first by an Omaha World-Herald on the price of corn, then Bloomberg and Yahoo news made it official: Obama Inflation is here and it will soon get out of control. Take a look at the price of a loaf of bread in the store. Coming next on the inflation list will be corn, beef, poultry, pork and COTTON CLOTHING, shoes and anything made of rubber. You read it first here! Here is another take on the problem. Finally, this morning the FOX Business Network is reporting gasoline prices at $5 a gallon in downtown LA! All thanks to Jimmy Obama Carter for this oil/gas price surge.

UNEMPLOYMENT? As many of you who read my blogs know by now, the unemployment numbers you read in the Seattle Times and from the Washington State Department of Labor are distortions! Here is a real look, nationally of what is really going on: Gallup finds real unemployment at about 20%. On that front job seekers are objecting to signs on employer’s web sites telling them that the unemployed need not apply. A very serious problem even though it is understandable. Would you hire someone who has been unemployed for extended periods of time? Too make matters worse look at the US Department of Labor report on NEW filings for unemployment benefits during the last week.

REVOLT IN POWER COMPANIES? Duke power had been one of Obama’s lap dogs with regard to the global warming fraud, but directors and others are rebelling. Read this.

SEATTLE CITY ATTORNEY GONE NUTS? He wants to legalize illegal drugs in the city. Why bother? Armed drug dealers line the major street corners downtown selling meth, crack and pot. City cops say they can do nothing because they need probable cause. Really? Maybe the Seattle City Attorney should spend time combating Seattle’s national ranking as the number one city for CHILD PROSTITUTION!

REAL ESTATE DOUBLE DIP? Yes! Seattle has just been hit hard with major foreclosures. Those who own condos and homes in the city are losing money because the values are dropping as a result of the many homes on the market because of defaults and foreclosures. Here is a statewide look; all according to RealyTrac.

My point here is clear: we are in a double dip recession and it is getting worse. The January unemployment report for the State of Washington will be out on March First and the February numbers come out on 3/15 with this new rule from the Washington State Department of Labor:

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics, seeking more uniformity in how the states report their labor statistics, will no longer allow Employment Security to release preliminary county-level data on the same day as the state data. Because the Seattle Metro Division employment numbers are generated the same time as the state numbers (meaning King and Snohomish Counties), they will be released with no delay.”

If anyone out there understands what this BS means please contact me right away.


GLOBAL WARMING SCARES A MAJOR LIE AND SCAM! In a new report, all of those warmests and UN lunatics can now go to jail for perpetuation of a fraud! It is all a confidence swindle, you read it first HERE!
And here is the complete report for public consumption.

WASHINGTON STATE COMMUNITY BANKS AT RISK? I am hearing that there are a number of banks in the state on the “at risk” list at the FDIC. Here is the national new item.

EDITORIAL: The University of Washington, a long time black hole for taxpayer dollars, is now about to commit to spending at least 250 million dollars they don’t have to rebuild a stadium that is falling apart. The result will be boxes and covered seats for the rich and no more cheap student seats! The problem: What if the renovation does a major cost overrun? Why are the idiots at the U Dub not simply bulldozing down the 90 year old stadium and moving their play to Qwest Field? They need the land and this would be a boon to cutting down on parking problems, provide the U Dub with land to build more classrooms and parking and if you are part of the climate change lunacy: MASSIVE REDUCTION IN GREEN HOUSE GASES! Fans can ride buses and light rails to the game! Make sense? No, not to the morons at the U Dub, here is the story.