New jobless claims hit record high in December

The number of new unemployment claims filed in the state during December was the highest on record.

More than 13,000 people filed an initial claim for unemployment benefits in the last month of 2008, compared to about 7,000 in November, according to the latest statewide data available.

December’s total was the highest number of claims in a single month dating back to at least 1990 – the first year the data was recorded by the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau. The second highest month was December 1990, amid the last recession, when 11,549 people filed an initial claim.

The huge increase in first-time unemployment claims is linked to a sharp increase in layoffs statewide.

“They’re happening every day now,” said Michael Power, executive director of community outreach for the state’s Workforce Opportunity Council.

Companies across the state, including major retail chains, financial firms and local manufacturers, are slashing jobs in order to cope with the recession and a huge drop-off in consumer spending.

New Hampshire’s unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent in December, up from just 3.4 percent in December 2007.

The Workforce Opportunity Council, the state’s job training center, runs a “rapid response” program to provide assistance to laid off workers. When it hears of a layoff of about 10 people or more, the council offers to visit the company and help displaced employees with resume building, training for a new job and filing for unemployment benefits. Recently, the number of companies the council visits has quadrupled.

Between July 1 and Jan. 30, the program assisted 120 companies with 3,466 displaced workers. In the same period the year before, there were only 31 companies and 1,359 employees.

“So, as you can see, we’re seeing four times as many companies and twice as many people,” Power said. “We’re seeing smaller layoffs spread all across the economy.”

The state’s numbers don’t include every layoff – sometimes a company accepts the offer for help and sometimes they don’t. Or, sometimes the council never hears about a layoff because companies aren’t required to report them, Power said.

Among the Greater Nashua companies that have laid off workers in the last six months or so, according to Power, are:

Amphenol, Nashua.

Sun Microsystems, Nashua.

Kollsman, Merrimack.

Cirtronics, Milford.

PC Connection, Merrimack.

Fidelity Investments, Merrimack.

GT Solar, Merrimack.

Power said some of the layoffs have been ongoing – occurring in several rounds. Amphenol and Sun Microsystems have had at least two rounds of layoffs, he said.

In November, Fidelity announced that it would lay off about 4 percent of its work force nationwide. The cuts were to come in two rounds, one immediately – about 1,288 workers out of 44,440, or 2.9 percent, were laid off – and the second early this year. Thus far, the company hasn’t made an announcement on the second round, but 4 percent of the Merrimack work force works out to about 215 employees.

This region has also felt the sting of chain store closures in the last few months, amid a dreary retail climate. Office Depot, Tweeter and Linens ‘n Things in Nashua have shuttered after liquidating their inventory. Bankrupt Circuit City is poised to do the same.

The Workforce Opportunity Council is looking into whether layoffs at national chains like Starbucks and Home Depot will have local impacts.

Although the number of initial unemployment claims is traditionally high in the month of December, the 2008 numbers were nearly double what they were in 2007, when slightly more than 7,500 people statewide filed initial claims.

However, 2008 yearly totals of first-time claims were still lower than in the recession of the early 1990s. In 1991, initial claims peaked at 87,503. The total in 2008 was 71,255.

Unemployment Claims

The number of initial jobless claims in December 2008 was the highest on record since the state started keeping track in 1990. The chart below shows the jump in claims from November to December and the total of all claims for the year.

Source: New Hampshire Economic

and Labor Market Information Bureau