The U.S. Census has revealed the slowest population growth in decades, and that 12 seats in Congress will change states. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Congressional representation is set to change thanks to population changes noted by the U.S. Census. Due to changing population in various areas, 12 seats in the House of Representatives are changing states. Most new seats are located in Republican strongholds.

House changes 12 seats thanks to Census

The data from the U.S. Census dictated that some changes were due to the number of seats in the House of Representatives allotted to some areas, according to the Washington Post. As states have a number of seats in the House of Representatives, changes in population can mean seats gained or lost. In all, 12 seats are changing, affecting 18 states. Texas gained the most, picking up an additional four House seats. Florida gained an additional two seats in the House. Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, Nevada, Utah, and Washington state all gained one additional seat in the lower house. Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania lost a single set. New York and Ohio both lost two seats.

Population growth slowed during last census

The 2010 Census revealed that population growth in the United States was slower than in previous decades, according to AOL News. The census showed that the U.S. population grew by only 9.7 percent since 2000, to 308,745,538 people. The growth rate was the lowest since the Great Depression. Nevada’s population rose the most, growing by 35.1 percent, while Michigan was the only state to lose people, having shrunk by 0.6 percent. Southern states grew in population by 14.3 percent, while the Northeast grew by only 3.2 percent.

Gains bear grim tidings for Democrats

The gains in House seats will likely be realized most by Republicans. The areas in which House seats were gained were largely Republican strongholds, especially Texas. Texas experienced a population boom of its own, having increased in population by 20 percent since the last census. Most seats that were lost were in historically Democrat held areas.

Sources

Washington Post

AOL News

Unemployment office image from Flickr.

During the month of April, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 290,000. Despite this increase in employment, the unemployment rate in the United States increased up to 9.9 percent. Sizable employment gains occurred in manufacturing, professional and business services, health care and in leisure and hospitality. Federal government employment increased due to hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. Since December, nonfarm payroll employment has expanded by 573,000 with 483,000 jobs added in the private sector. The vast majority of job growth occurred during the last 2 months.

Unemployment categories

Percentages of unemployed workers:

• Less than 5 weeks, 18.3 percent
• 5 to 14 weeks, 20.4 percent
• 15 weeks or more, 61.3 percent
• 15 to 26 weeks, 15.4 percent
• 27 weeks or more, 45.9 percent

In April, the civilian labor force participation rate increased by 0.3 percent to 65.2 percent, as the size of the labor force rose by 805,000. Since December, the participation rate has increased by 0.6 percent. The percentage of the U.S. population that is emploued rose to 58.8 percent during April.

Manufacturing, construction, business and temporary

Manufacturing added 44,000 jobs in April. Since December, factory employment has gone up by 101,000. Over the month, gains occurred in several durable goods industries, including fabricated metals (9,000) and machinery (7,000). Employment also grew in nondurable goods manufacturing (14,000). In April, construction employment edged up 14,000, following an increase of 26,000 in March. Over the month, nonresidential building and heavy construction added 9,000 jobs each.

Employment in professional and business services rose by 80,000 in April. Temporary help services continued to add jobs (26,000). Employment in this industry has increased by 330,000 since September 2009. Employment also rose over the month in services to buildings and dwellings 23,000 and in computer systems design 7,000.

Health care, hospitality and government

In April, health care employment grew by 20,000, including a gain of 6,000 in hospitals. Over the past year, health care employment has increased by 244,000.

Employment rose by 45,000 in leisure and hospitality over the month. Much of this increase occurred in accommodation and food services, which added 29,000 jobs. Food services employment has risen by 84,000 over the past four months, while accommodations has added 18,000 jobs over the past three months.

Federal government employment was up in April, reflecting the hiring of 66,000 temporary workers for the decennial census.

Consumer credit for first quarter declines

However, it is the health of the banking system — which can be determined by the outstanding credit and loans taken out by U.S. consumers — that provides a clearer picture of the true state of the economy and its health or distress.

From its January 2010 high of $2.746 billion in outstanding U.S. consumer credit, which most likely is due to paying down 2009 purchases during the holiday season, outstanding consumer credit has declined every month since January. Consumer credit has fallen to $2.446 billion in February and $2.433 billion in March 2010.

Those statistics show that most Americans are either saving more or cutting back spending to pay outstanding bills, thus not using credit to make as many new purchases. Thus, because of less consumer spending for the month of April, there are fewer Americans employed.

Sources:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

U.S. Federal Reserve Survey of “Consumer Credit Outstanding”