RealtyTrac's June 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report indicates Tennessee foreclosure filings increased 30.1% over June 2007.

According to the report, 1 in 615 Tennessee properties had such activity. This rate is 12th in the United States and the 3rd highest in the southeast. The national rate is 1 in 501 households.

The unemployment rate soared from 5 percent in April to 5.5 percent in May. That was the biggest one-month jump in the rate since February 1986. The increase left the jobless rate at its highest since October 2004.
...
A year ago, the number of unemployed stood at 6.9 million and the jobless rate was 4.5 percent.
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the unemployment rate is expected to climb to 6 percent or higher early next year.

We have about eight months until someone new is in the President's seat. How bad can it get in eight months? I don't know. When are the Republicans going to learn how to manage the economy? When are they going to learn they can't keep saying just spend more money. It's not working!

Chattanooga Times Free Press:

Tennessee ranks fifth in the nation for having the greatest income difference between the richest and the poorest residents, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-partisan, nonprofit research organization.

[..]

Tennessee’s poorly skilled work force contributes greatly to the disparity here, said Dr. Matt Murray, professor of economics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. For decades, the state has relied on manufacturing, textile and apparel industries to provide many of its jobs, but they’ve been low-skill jobs that people can get without much education, he said.

The article notes that many of those jobs have moved out of the country, leaving low-paying jobs with stagnant wages.

According to the study, the top 20% of earners make more than seven times as much as the bottom 20% of earners nationwide. In Tennessee, the ratio is eight to one.

Nationwide, wages at the low end have decreased 2.5% while wages at the top end have increased by 9.1% since the late 1990s. In Tennessee, earnings for the bottom 20% have grown 6.5% in the last two decades, compared to 31.9% for the top 20%.

To mitigate the effects of economic forces outside the control of state policy, the study recommends raising and indexing the minimum wage, improving the unemployment insurance program, making state tax systems more progressive, and strengthening the social safety net.

Progressive Nashville:

Noted economist Phil Valentine says all this talk about a recession is nonsense. We haven't recorded two consecutive quarters of negative growth, so we should spend like drunken sailors lest our pessimism create a recession.

Thank heavens Valentine doesn't have control of anything more dangerous than a cough switch.

Yes, wingnut radio talk show hosts are the first place I turn for financial advice.

Some believe we can talk ourselves into a recession, or spend our way out of one. I'm not so sure the borrow-and-spend approach is working. What do you think?

Chattanooga Times Free Press:

Tennessee sales tax collections suffered their worst drop in 47 years this month, officials said Tuesday.

[..] Using his numbers, Dr. Fox is projecting as much as a $600 million shortfall, which appears to take into account the $180 million in previously stated reductions.

[..] Commissioner Goetz later said in an interview that the state likely will have to cut "substantially more" than the $389 million.

Analysts blame the shortfall on the slowing economy. In my opinion, lack of consumer confidence is also a factor as people cut back on non-essential purchases.

P.S. But see, this is the great thing about a sales tax. You can voluntarily give yourself a tax cut!

Have you heard? It's in the news just today.

Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges," with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe.

Of course, if they weren't reducing taxes during war time, if they weren't bailing out investment banks to the tune of $30 Billion, if they weren't determined to continue a war that costs around $12 Billion a month, if they weren't determined to not have citizens sacrifice just a little during war time, the challenge might not be so enormous.

Wow! I'm not sure I can stand much more excitement.

JP Morgan is buying Bear Stearns for $2 a share. Bear Stearns was selling for $169 a year ago, $50 a week ago, and $30 on Friday. The company survived the Great Depression.

Oil trading at a record high $112 today in Asia.

US dollar falls to a record low against the euro.

The Fed cut its discount rate on Sunday by 25 points to 3.25. They are expected to cut the federal funds rate on Tuesday.

For us ordinary people, savings interest rates have dropped 2-3% in the last month and a half to two months. Washington analysts are asking which bank will be next. Will we know if it's our bank before it's to late?

Moody's Economy.com recently released a study assessing the U.S. economy at the state level. USA Today presented the findings in an interactive map.

According to the map, Tennessee remains in expansion mode.

The map also lists the status of the states' major metropolitan areas.

The following cities have expanding economies: Knoxville, Memphis, Tri-Cities.

These cities are at risk of economic contraction: Chattanooga, Nashville.

Yeah! Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris (as in cigarettes) is being taken off the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Dow Jones said Altria is being shed from the index because the company, which makes Marlboro cigarettes through its Philip Morris Cos. unit, has become a "much smaller and more narrowly focused company." Altria has spun off its Kraft Foods Inc. subsidiary as a separate company, and is currently splitting its international business from its U.S. business.

Altria (Philip Morris) and Honeywell are being replaced by Bank of America and Chevron.

Not that it will help Tennessee tobacco farmers if cigarette companies don't do well.

The Tennessee Republican Party on Jan. 10th (12 days ago):

On the economic front, Democrats want to convey fear about "recession." Despite a rise of almost 12% in real after-tax per capita income (averaging $3550 per worker), the reduction of the federal deficit by $250 Billion over the last 3 years and 52 straight months of economic growth in an environment of the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, corporate scandals, natural disasters in hurricanes, drought and fires, our resilient markets are now responding to the impact of 1.8 million subprime mortgages due to reset at higher rates.

Federal Reserve, today:

That global market selloff prompted the Federal Reserve to hold an emergency telephone conference Monday night, and a decision to slash the fed funds rate was announced Tuesday.

[..]

In its statement the bank said it was making the move due to the weakening economic outlook and increased risks to growth. This was the first emergency interest-rate cut since September 2001, when the Fed cut interest rates in the midst of the recession and the panic following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Memo to self: don't ever take investment advice from Republicans.

At 7:43 AM, AP reports:

Indicators showed the Dow Jones industrial average was set to fall by about 500 points when trading begins.

At 9:09 AM, the AP article changed to:

The Federal Reserve, confronted with a global stock sell-off fanned by increased fears of a recession, slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday and indicated further rate cuts were likely.
...
The Fed decision was taken during an emergency telephone conference with Fed officials on Monday night.

Yeehaw! What a roller coaster.

Tennessee’s unemployment rate for December 2007 was 5.3%, up 0.4% from November, and up 0.4% over the December 2006 unemployment rate of 4.9%.

Tennessee Commissioner of Labor & Workforce Development James Neeley said "Tennessee’s unemployment rate experienced a notable increase from November to December, consistent with what’s happening across the nation. We see this as a result of a slowdown in employment growth in the overall economy in Tennessee and the nation."

In pretending to be a reporter (though not pretending to be unbiased), I've described the way John Edwards has outlined the problems facing the middle class and his proposals for helping improve their (our) job prospects. Should I say that this is the last in a series and hope for a Pulitzer? Sure, when the ice cap melts, uh, when the ice cap refreezes, ok, when hell freezes over.

What does JE say about his other goals after good jobs?

The chief executive of UPS Inc. said Wednesday that the country is at increased risk of falling into a recession and it's not clear when the economy will rebound.

top economists from two of the major Wall Street firms - Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs - say recession is likely already here.

Bloomberg reports the WSJ reports:

Bush May Use Tax Breaks to Ward Off U.S. Recession
…
a $500 tax rebate for citizens to encourage consumer spending

Dow Jones over 6 months (click for larger view):

Not a recession? Is it time to buy? Or should we wait to see how low it will go?

Oh, and how much will that $500 tax rebate help? Will it buy gas, groceries, healthcare, or baubles? GWB keeps wanting us to spend and says nothing about our need to save or conserve for the war effort.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.

You can spend!

Mortgage rates not a problem. Nothing to see here.

Oops, Bush Administration pushes to "freeze" interest rates.

The proposal, reached in negotiations led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson with the mortgage industry, would freeze introductory "teaser" rates on subprime mortgages, preventing them from resetting to higher rates for five years. White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said it would help "potentially a little more than a million" people who can afford payments with their introductory rates, but not if they jump to higher rates.

He said it was voluntary, and did not represent federal intrusion into the private market.

Voluntary my ass.

The Nashville Business Journal reports that Tennessee's unemployment rate was 4.7% in October, down from 5.1% in 2006.

The report summarizes gains in a number of sectors, but notes that Tennessee lost 7,400 manufacturing jobs as compared to October 2006.

It's 2:30PM, November 8th, 2007. The Dow Jones is down 165, possibly drifting up as we write. It was down 360 yesterday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that a host of economic problems, including the severe housing slump, will cause business growth to slow noticeably in coming months.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, on Wednesday, "urged consumers to get out there, be active, shop, spend, show confidence."

My heads spinning. No big deal, everythings under control. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Update: the shop, spend, confidence activity worked. DJ only down 34.