[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 28 (Wednesday, March 13, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ECONOMIC SECURITY AND RECOVERY ACT OF 2001

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                               speech of

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 7, 2002

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I will support this measure.
  The bill before us responds to the urgent needs of hundreds of 
thousands of people who are out of work and whose unemployment benefits 
have been or soon will be exhausted. It also provides important 
provisions that can help speed up the recovery from recession and 
create jobs.
  My only regret is that it has taken so long for us to take up this 
kind of bill. If we had done so sooner, fewer people would have reached 
the end of their benefits and the economic recovery might by moving at 
a faster rate. So, I hope that the fact the bill must go back to the 
Senate will not lead to further unnecessary delays.
  To show why prompt action is essential, I am attaching a story from 
this morning's Rocky Mountain News. It reports that Colorado's 
unemployment rate recently surpassed the national rate for the first 
time in more than a decade.
  We also have a high concentration of high-tech employment--and many 
provisions of this bill are particularly important for high-tech firms, 
which is another reason I support it.

              [From the Rocky Mountain News, Mar. 7, 2002]

                         Jobless Picture Bleak

                          (By Heather Draper)

       Colorado's unemployment rate hit 5.7 percent in January, 
     its highest level since 1993 and surpassing the national 
     jobless rate for the first time in nearly 12 years.
       The U.S. employment rate in January was 5.6 percent.
       The state's increase from 5.1 percent in December was the 
     second-highest jump in the nation behind New Mexico, which 
     recorded a 0.9-point rise from December, the federal Bureau 
     of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
       Colorado's 3-percentage-point increase from its historic 
     low of 2.7 percent in January 2001 was also the nation's 
     second-largest year-over-year increase, behind Oregon's 3.1-
     point jump.
       ``It's definitely of concern,'' said Patty Silverstein, 
     economist with Development Research Partners. ``We haven't 
     seen levels like this since the early 1990s. You can't really 
     sugarcoat this.''
       The state's 5.7 percent seasonally adjusted jobless rate 
     translated to about 135,000 Coloradans out of work in 
     January.
       The city and county of Denver's non-seasonally adjusted 
     unemployment rate hit a whopping 7.4 percent in January, up 
     from 6.1 percent in December and 3.4 percent in January last 
     year, according to the state Labor Department.
       About 69,000 metro Denver residents were unemployed in 
     January, 21,200 of those in Denver County alone.
       `The last time Colorado's jobless rate was higher than the 
     national rate was March 1990,' said Tom Dunn, chief economist 
     for the state legislative council. ``We have a higher 
     concentration of high-tech employment here and a lot of 
     travel-related jobs, so Colorado has been hit harder. And I 
     think, Sept. 11 introduced a whole new wrinkle (in the 
     economy).''
       Dunn said the recession hit Colorado later than the rest of 
     the nation, so the state will start to recover later.
       Economists were surprised by the size of the state's 
     increase, as most were predicting unemployment of about 5.5 
     percent in January.
       ``All bets are off now,'' Silverstein said. ``It's hard to 
     say how much higher we might possibly go. The bottom line is 
     that we aren't out of the woods yet.''
       The unemployment rate is a lagging economic indicator, but 
     ``that is still a huge jump,'' said Tucker Hart Adams, 
     economist with US Bank
       ``The recession may be officially over, but I think that's 
     kind of irrelevant,'' Adams said. ``The layoffs continue and 
     housing is getting worse. I just don't see any signs of 
     strength locally.''
       At least one economist was a bit more bullish on the 
     state's economic outlook. ``I think the good news is that the 
     U.S. economy has bottomed out,'' said Sung Won Sohn, Chief 
     economist at Wells Fargo & Co. ``Since Colorado's economy 
     depends so much on the U.S. economy, we have to view the U.S. 
     economic outlook as the light at the end of the tunnel.''
       Job losses were greatest in Colorado's trade sector, with 
     16,000 fewer jobs in January 2002 than December 2001. 
     Government jobs were down 12,200, and service industry jobs 
     were down 11,400, the labor department said. The only sector 
     to see an overall gain in January was the finance, insurance 
     and real estate sector, which was up 1,100 jobs.
       Pueblo had one of the state's highest unemployment rates in 
     January at 8.2 percent, up from 6.5 percent in December 2001 
     and 4.7 percent in January 2001. Colorado Springs hit 6.8 
     percent unemployment in January, up from 5.6 percent in 
     December and 3.2 percent a year ago.
       The Boulder-Longmont area registered 5.7 percent 
     unemployment in January, up from 4.7 percent in December and 
     more than double its 2.4 percent rate a year ago.

     

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