By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 commentator
Dallas, TX – It's Friday so "It's Only Money," a review of the big and not-so-big stories of the week. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Middays.
I wish there was better news concerning unemployment. April's figures rose again to an eight-year high of 6%. The service sector had a slight increase in job growth, but manufacturing and construction continues to lay off workers. Probably one of the more startling figures is the number of long-term jobless. That means you've been on the line for an exhausting 27 weeks or longer. It has doubled since this trend began a year and a half ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the most concentrated group of people that got hit last month - adult women. Looking under any stone we can for positive news on this front, temp-jobs are seeing a rise, which is sometimes a precursor for permanent jobs. Please be right.
In the chalk-one-up-for-the-consumer department, Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor told State Farm Insurance that they may not raise auto insurance premiums as requested. They only wanted a mere 12.1% increase. I know, rejection's hard, State Farm, but we all have to deal with it.
In the we-know-how-big-we-are-we-can-bully-anyone-around category, the pharmaceutical industry is putting pressure on some of the big corporations. These corporations are lobbying for legislation to speed up the process to bring cheaper generic drugs to market. That's in today's Wall Street Journal. BAM, Business for Affordable Medicine, a coalition made up of 10 governors and 11 companies, are consistently getting calls from the drug companies to drop out of the coalition. Drug costs are rising at double-digit rates, and Medicaid and these companies are feeling the burden. But the pressure might be working. Marriott, Verizon, and Caterpillar have all pulled out of the coalition. But they're expecting new companies to join. Let's hope so.
And as the Mavericks begin the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Rangers go for six straight tonight. Go, Metroplex! For KERA Marketplace Middays, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 P.M.