RECESSION WATCH: WV Jobless Rate Could Double, Hard Times Hit Postal Service

(01/29/2009)

GLOOMY NEWS - A new analysis warns that more than 77,000 West Virginians could be out of work by the end of the year. The Mountain State's unemployment rate is predicted to soar over 9 percent by the final three months of 2009, according Moody's Economy.com. Mark Zandi, the chief economist for the credit rating agency, says job losses will be even worse without the massive stimulus measure now before Congress. Zandi, who is a former financial adviser to Arizona Sen. John McCain and favors the stimilus package, estimates that the $825 billion stimulus will save 14,560 West Virginia jobs by the end of 2010 and 23,730 by the final months of 2012. Buoyed by its energy sector, West Virginia has weathered the ongoing recession better than most states. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund expects the global economy "to come to a virtual halt" this year, according to BBC reports. The grim statement from IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard follows the IMF's forecast that world economic growth is set to fall to just 0.5% this year, its lowest rate since World War II. The gloomy news from the IMF comes on the same day that the International Labor Organization says the global economic crisis could cost up to 51 million lost jobs worldwide, says the BBC. HARD TIMES HIT POSTAL SERVICE - Facing a massive deficit, the Postal Service has asked Congress to allow it to stop delivering mail on Saturdays. Postmaster General John E. Potter asked lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week. Faced with dwindling mail volume and rising costs, the post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year. Total mail volume was 202 billion items last year, more than 9 billion less than the year before, the largest single volume drop in history.

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