Study: Unemployment Stems Partly from Deficient Worker Skills, Education
One in six Americans live in poverty, according to the Census Bureau in 2011. The economy is difficult for them and others. However, in this knowledge-technology era, millions of American workers would be employed, if they kept in mind two adages.
They’re apropos for veteran and entry-level workers.
More on the adages later. First, let’s consider the startling results of a Brookings Institution study: Education, Demand and Unemployment in Metropolitan America. Job hunters, in many cases, are simply under-educated.
“This report provides evidence that there is an education gap in most metropolitan areas, and that this gap is responsible for higher unemployment,” wrote study co-author Jonathan Rothwell.
There are more jobs than educated workers, according to the study’s results covering 2005 to 2009. It appears to be a worsening trend.
Even with a nationwide unemployment rate of 9.1, a check of help wanted ads shows countless available jobs. Why?
The study includes a chart with a caption:
“In 2009, the average U.S. job required 13.54 years of education, but the average U.S. adult over the age of 25 had attained just 13.48 years of schooling. This gap between the supply and demand for educated workers has significant consequences – metro areas with large education gaps had consistently higher unemployment rates than other metro areas from 2005 to 2011.”
If you are educated but are unemployed or under-employed, please know that I am empathetic. Yes, I know, the economy is a bummer. And yes, a lot of jobs have been outsourced overseas. But in my experience, the study is accurate for good reason.
It’s important to accept challenges, and to consider solutions.
So, here are profound mottos for success from two unlikely sources:
- The 1946 graduating class of Watts High School in Watts, Oklahoma.
- Michelangelo.
Watts High School motto
Families in 1940’s Watts were very poor. Starting in the 1930s, the only available jobs were the result of President Franklin Roosevelt’s WPA – Works Progress Administration. Watts had been a vibrant railroad town with a roundhouse to repair locomotives. As I understand it, The Kansas City Southern Railway Company laid off all the workers as management changed strategies.
One such family produced six siblings, which included my dear mother.
As a youngster, my mother felt fortunate to get a job working 8 hours waiting tables for $1 at her uncle’s cafe. Later, she was senior-class salutatorian and named to the state’s high school honor society – one B and the rest were A’s.
She’s now in her eighties, and has no trouble recalling her class motto: “Find a way or make one.”
Many of today’s American workers — at all skill levels — could profit by such a philosophy.
Like many others from the Great Depression, she knew to avoid debt. She worked hard, took the bus to work and saved money. Upon being divorced when I was three years old, she raised my brother and me without any assistance – welfare, food stamps or alimony. In Tulsa, when I was in elementary school, she bought a house.
When I was nine, she faced a layoff as a result of the sale of her oil-company employer. Fortunately, with her work ethic, she was offered a job in Palm Springs and soon bought a two-year-old Pontiac and a new house a half block from Bob Hope and James Stewart.
After I turned 13, she married a wise man, who told me: “It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you bring home.”
Both are now handicapped and walk rather gingerly. But my mom has the same approach to life as she did in 1946 – “Find a way or make one.”
Michelangelo’s motto
As for Michelangelo, his favorite tenet: “I am still learning.” It’s certainly apropos in this digital-age economy.
What were once considered basic job skills are no longer basic. About 30 years ago, literate workers could find employment if they were mindful of a company’s mission, and if they knew simple math.
A review of unfilled jobs – even entry level jobs – reveals that companies now require more: How to type on a computer keyboard, know how to use software, conduct research on the Internet, and have soft skills – empathy, teamwork and collaboration. To get a foothold in a company, workers often must be flexible in work hours and adapt to changing marketplace needs.
Another tip I used to my advantage when I was in the workforce long before becoming a business-performance consultant, which I still use today: Find needs of companies and provide them with solutions.
So, organizational and entrepreneurial skills are important. In addition, development of a professional presence in social media and foreign language skills in a 24/7 global economy are advantageous.
The moral: Get tougher mentally, have fun, continue to learn, be resourceful, and grow with an entrepreneurial spirit. You’ll make it, and you’ll have fun stories to tell.
Here’s a related resource link: Is Higher Education Doing the Job to Prepare Grads for the Workforce?
Here are job-hunting strategies:
Discouraged in Job Hunting? Powerful Tips for the Best Job
15 Tips to Improve Your Odds for a Job
Job Hunting? Tips to Land Your Dream Job with Style, Substance
Study: Best Way to Get a Job Isn’t by Networking
From the Coach’s Corner, here’s a personal case study in overcoming unemployment:
Long before becoming a business-performance consultant, I knew the pain of unemployment after being corporately downsized. That was the case even though I already done some post-grad study at UCLA with experience in radio-TV news management, and had interviewed major newsmakers including two U.S. presidents and the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. As a freelance contributor to networks, my news reports had aired nationwide.
If I needed a job, sometimes I had to get sales jobs in other industries and worked my way back into management.
In 1984, a radio station laid me off one bitter-cold winter in Salt Lake City. I had to swallow my pride and take a temp job at $4.25 an hour as a manual laborer. During lunchtime breaks, the construction workers guffawed at my unprofessional construction work-clothes. I explained I was just trying to make my car payment as an out-of-work broadcast broadcaster. Their reaction – they thought I had delusions of grandeur.
Actually, I enjoyed construction work. However, soon I accidentally dropped some heavy lumber on my foot while standing in frigid water wearing tennis shoes.
In 24 hours with the aid of crutches, I began cold-calling broadcast companies in-person. That included a nationwide-media company, where I inadvertently annoyed the human-resources manager. She barked at me: “How dare you come here without an appointment?!” To no avail, I explained that my visit was to make an appointment for an interview.
As she threw me out, I thought: “I’ll show her.” I hobbled to the second floor to cold-call the company’s local radio-station news director. Soon, he created a job for me, saying: “You’ve got a job for two weeks, and if Walter Cronkite doesn’t apply and you prove yourself, the job is yours.”
The reporter/weekend anchor shift at the 50,000-watt station was an unpalatable Wednesday to Sunday night from 2 to 11 p.m. But I worked hard while trying to be nonchalant as I watched applicants, one-by-one, walk by my work station to the boss’s office for interviews.
Suddenly, the boss left for California, and I worried because he wasn’t around to evaluate my work. Candidly, my bio rhythms were askew. I had been accustomed to a normal schedule – and running the show. When he returned, the news director summoned me to his office. I was shaking as began to tell me he had heard all about me while he was gone.
Then, he stunned me: “Your attitude is contagious,” he said. The job was mine.
When my boss escorted me down to the HR office to fill out paper work, the HR manager scowled at me. When I explained to the news director why she was unfriendly, he chortled, “Yeah, she’s a pain.” He then said he was thrilled by my gumption to bypass her.
In the ensuing three years, I won three awards and was promoted to afternoon/evening news editor and anchor where my shift earned market-leading double-digit ARB ratings. As a powerful radio station, its signal could be heard in nine western states. My parents often listened to my newscasts sitting by their wood stove.
One of those skeptical construction workers spotted me on a downtown street corner. He stared in astonishment, saying: “I heard you on the news.”
Little did he know, I enjoyed driving friends to the scene of my proud accomplishment – the medical-office building I helped to build. Even though they regularly heard me on the radio, they thought it was hysterically funny that I was proud of my manual-labor job.
Good luck! Enjoy your footwork.
“Do whatever it takes, whenever it needs to be done, regardless of whether you feel like doing it or not.”
-Greg Hickman
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Columnist Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
After Taking Us for a Ride, A Vacation Is Warranted for Obama
Aug. 20, 2011
Frankly, I don’t understand the brouhaha over the Obama family’s vacation, decadent or otherwise. Critics who called on President Obama to cancel his Martha Vineyard vacation have been misguided.
Aren’t they over-reacting?
True, the timing of his vacation could have been better. Much of the country is suffering. World markets are in chaos. A check of history does reveal other presidents have canceled vacations during similar crises.
The well-to-do location also raised eyebrows of consternation. For one thing, Martha’s Vineyard does not have racial diversity. Even the Tea Party has more racial diversity. More noteworthy, nor does Martha’s Vineyard have economic diversity. The average American cannot afford the $50,000 per week price tag of Mr. Obama’s favorite vacation retreat – not to mention the huge amounts of money paid for security.
In contrast, President Clinton went camping in Wyoming, President Reagan went home to split firewood, and President Roosevelt served hot dogs to the Queen of England. Those symbols of leadership inspired Americans during critical times.
The feeling of President Obama’s critics is that he advocates certain principles, but his actions speak differently. I concur.
By now, you realize the headline and lead paragraphs in this piece are facetious.
No, I’m not a Republican. Nor am I a Democrat. As a Biz Coach columnist, count me also as an average American with a Cherokee Indian heritage, an Independent and a champion of the underdog — someone who is deeply worried about the direction of this country.
The spending is out of control. The risk of a double-dip recession is quite high. So what do we get now? We get an ill-advised bus-PR gimmick with only hints about a new jobs plan.
Yes, Mr. Obama’s bus tour has really taken us Americans for a ride — an abysmal, bumpy ride. As a former columnist at Belo Web sites and one who supported his small-business platfom during his campaign — a Biz Coach column followed by a press release — I feel betrayed.
Incompetent economic policies
Actually, since his inauguration, President Obama has been leading us astray. Instead of focusing on the faltering economy, he gave us a dysfunctional health law, which has been one of the reasons small business has not hired workers. He advocated a plan to confiscate your retirement funds. And don’t forget about his unproductive environmental policy in Cap and Trade.
As a result, a recent Gallup Poll indicates Mr. Obama has a 26-percent rating for his handling of the economy. Americans aren’t confident about his policies with good reason – the policies and Americans aren’t working.
His rhetoric has suggested he will deliver an effective policy to create jobs and to ease the onerously high unemployment rate. He’s been wrapping himself in the American flag – issuing an ultimatum to opponents to support his secret jobs plan. He implies opponents of his ineffective policies are unpatriotic. Sure.
His bus tour was another indicator of incompetence – the type of economic-policy ilk that Americans suffered under President Carter. To state Mr. Obama is providing leadership is in reality an oxymoron. His so-called leadership is leading us down the wrong road.
The two Darth-Vader looking black buses cost $1.1 million – each – from Prevost, a Quebec-based manufacturer. Reportedly, the Secret Service made the purchase. If I were Canadian, I’d expect my government not to miss a chance to buy Canadian. Likewise, as a U.S. citizen concerned about jobs, I expect this administration to buy American.
Yes, it’s true all White House vehicles are black. However, instead of being a source for optimism, the black-colored buses are a reminder – the black mirrors the economy and morale of most Americans.
Obama behavior fails to match goals
For a president who claims he’s concerned about jobs for American workers, he’s committed a terrible PR gaffe – economically, environmentally and patriotically.
To send a message about job creation, appropriate action is indicated. But it’s not happening. No one will convince me that American bus manufacturers are incompetent. There’s at least one American bus manufacturer that’s able to meet security requirements to protect a U.S. president.
In fact, a cursory search on Google reveals three interesting American bus manufacturers:
- Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns Forest River, a bus builder in Elkhart, Indiana – in business since 1903. Mr. Buffett just might have the resources to build such a bus.
- General Motors Ventures LLC is investing $6 million in Proterra Inc., a well-known manufacturer of zero-emission buses. Locations: Golden, Colorado and Greenville, South Carolina.
- How about American Coach in Decatur, Indiana? Talk about a missed opportunity for PR. American Coach’s line of products: American Revolution, American Eagle, American Tradition and American Heritage. Any of the names would have been a PR coup of epic proportions.
(Note: If you work for a U.S. bus manufacturer excluded in this column, my apologies for my oversight. Please let me know. I’ll gladly add you to this list.)
One final example of Mr. Obama’s tone deafness: Not only did he miss an opportunity to put Americans to work building his buses, he missed another golden opportunity to show the No. 1 symbol of patriotism — the American flag.
There were no American flags anywhere on his buses. None.
So, I disagree with the critics of Mr. Obama’s vacations. I now believe he should enjoy long, decadent respites. When he’s not working, Americans are better off. They have a better chance of getting back to work.
From the Coach’s Corner, here are two resource links: economic analysis and short-term economic forecast.
You might also wish to read Does the Federal Reserve Understand Small Business? Here’s a menu of other public policy columns.
“A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”
-Milton Friedman
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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
Does the Federal Reserve Understand Small Business?
To answer the question, I have a simple one-word answer: No. It appears at least one of the Federal Reserve’s 12 districts does not have a practitioner’s understanding of small business.
Small business is really the straw that stirs the drink in the nation’s ability to increase the number of jobs in this country.
According to Small Business Administration (SBA) figures, small businesses make up more than 99 percent of all employers and employ more than half of all workers. Another SBA stat stands out: Small businesses have created 64 percent of all jobs in the last 15 years.
But small businesses have really suffered during and after the Great Recession.
So why is it that a 2011 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York draws the wrong conclusions as to why small business employee rolls dropped a lot more than big-business employment in the recent recession?
The Fed’s study concludes that a drop in consumer demand triggered the cutbacks. Huh?
Fortunately, a blog by Dr. Scott Shane nailed the reason.
“I think two factors – reduced access to credit and the concentration of small businesses in the worst hit sectors of the economy – play a bigger role than the Fed researchers acknowledge,” he wrote.
I like his work, and have quoted him previously (Is the U.S. in Danger of Becoming Second-Rate in High Tech?). Dr. Shane is an entrepreneurial scholar – the A. Malachi Mixon III Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University.
The Fed was right about the loss of small-business employment rolls — 10.4 percent among companies with fewer than 50 employees. And Dr. Shane agreed. As Biz Coach, a business-performance consultant, I see it every day. Small businesses did lose more jobs than their bigger counterparts during the Great Recession. So, we’re in agreement on the job losses.
“Businesses with fewer than 50 employees accounted for 28 percent of the 121 million Americans employed in the private sector in 2008, the latest Small Business Administration figures show,” wrote Dr. Shane. “That’s too much employment in small businesses for policymakers to find a way to fix the job problem without getting the smallest companies to boost hiring.”
He’s right again.
“Small businesses are underrepresented in two sectors that have weathered the downturn relatively well: exporters and those in research-and-development-intensive industries,” he wrote. “And small businesses account for much more of the employment in the sectors hardest hit by the downturn.”
As an example, he cites construction.
“While total employment fell only 4.4 percent from 2007 to 2009, employment in construction dropped a 19.4 percent. With so many small businesses in construction, this has meant heavy job loss,” he explained.
“The Fed researchers also play down the importance of tightened credit markets in accounting for the losses, arguing that most of the decline in borrowing by small businesses during the recession came from a decrease in demand for loans – not a reduction in supply,” he asserted.
He cites figures from the National Federation of Independent Business: “In March 2009, at the depth of the recession, only 29 percent of small business owners reported that their borrowing needs were being met, down from 40 percent back in February 2007.”
Dr. Shane points out home-price declines adversely impacted small business credit.
“A 2007 survey by Barlow Research Associates shows that one-quarter of small business owners use the equity in their homes to fund their businesses,” he wrote. “And research by Kean University professor Samuel Bornstein shows that many of the loans used to tap that equity were the Alt-A, adjustable-rate and interest-only mortgages at the toxic heart of the crisis…”The decline in housing prices sucked a large amount of small business credit out of the system.”
Dr. Shane indicated home equity loans for small businesses decreased $25 billion.
“If policymakers want to counteract the job losses in small business, they need to do more than say that the cause is decreased demand,” he concluded. “Rather, they need to stimulate the small business heavy industries that were badly damaged by the recession and keep credit flowing.”
Amen. Naturally, it follows that new strategies for small business credit are needed. However, now there’s a bigger problem.
My sense is that the small business credit situation – in the aggregate – won’t qualify such firms for loans. The chicanery by big banks led to reduced credit limits and they got away with charging 38 percent interest on business credit cards for dubious reasons.
From the Coach’s Corner, here’s a resource link:
11 Strategies to Keep your Small Business Floating above Water
“Dreams come true if you survive the hard times!”
-George William Curtis
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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
Manufacturing Jobs Might Return to U.S. as China’s Labor Costs Rise
June 13, 2011
Will federal, state and local governments change public policy to take advantage of a development in China?
A recent study by a world-class consulting firm offers hope to regions in the United States beleaguered by high unemployment – the firm predicts labor issues in China mean U.S. firms will be less-inclined to offshore jobs.
As some U.S. states develop reputations as low-cost manufacturing centers and China’s wages increase, offshoring of jobs is expected to decline in five years, according to an international consulting firm. That’s the essence of a study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
The firm’s report: “Made in the USA, Again: Manufacturing Is Expected to Return to America as China’s Rising Labor Costs Erase Most Savings from Offshoring.”
As usual, BCG offers enlightening insights.
“With Chinese wages rising at about 17 percent per year and the value of the yuan continuing to increase, the gap between U.S. and Chinese wages is narrowing rapidly,” said the firm’s press release. “Meanwhile, flexible work rules and a host of government incentives are making many states—including Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama—increasingly competitive as low-cost bases for supplying the U.S. market.”
That’s thanks to a labor-shortage issue.
“All over China, wages are climbing at 15 to 20 percent a year because of the supply-and-demand imbalance for skilled labor,” said Harold L. Sirkin, a BCG senior partner. “We expect net labor costs for manufacturing in China and the U.S. to converge by around 2015. As a result of the changing economics, you’re going to see a lot more products ‘Made in the USA’ in the next five years.”
It’s a complex issue, but BCG further explained the rationale.
“After adjustments are made to account for American workers’ relatively higher productivity, wage rates in Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin are expected to be about only 30 percent cheaper than rates in low-cost U.S. states,” stated the press release. “And since wage rates account for 20 to 30 percent of a product’s total cost, manufacturing in China will be only 10 to 15 percent cheaper than in the U.S.—even before inventory and shipping costs are considered.”
Cost advantages in China will lessen
“Products that require less labor and are churned out in modest volumes, such as household appliances and construction equipment, are most likely to shift to U.S. production,” according to BCG’s Web site. “Goods that are labor-intensive and produced in high volumes, such as textiles, apparel, and TVs, will likely continue to be made overseas.”
Sirkin, who authored “GLOBALITY: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything,” advised U.S companies to examine all the labor costs.
“They’re increasingly likely to get a good wage deal and substantial incentives in the U.S., so the cost advantage of China might not be large enough to bother—and that’s before taking into account the added expense, time, and complexity of logistics,” said Sirkin.
BCG said the reversal has started.
“Caterpillar Inc., for example, announced last year the expansion of its U.S. operations with the construction of a new 600,000-square-foot hydraulic excavator manufacturing facility in Victoria, Texas,” the press statement indicated. “Once fully operational, the plant is expected to employ more than 500 people and will triple the company’s U.S.-based excavator capacity.”
Caterpillar acknowledged why.
“Victoria’s proximity to our supply base, access to ports and other transportation, as well as the positive business climate in Texas made this the ideal site for this project,” said Gary Stampanato, a Caterpillar vice president.
Two other companies change course
“NCR Corp. announced in late 2009 that it was bringing back production of its ATMs to Columbus, Georgia, in order to decrease the time to market, increase internal collaboration, and lower operating costs,” said the consulting firm. “And toy manufacturer Wham-O Inc. last year returned 50 percent of its Frisbee production and its Hula Hoop production from China and Mexico to the U.S.”
U.S. unions, of course, have been an obstacle.
“Workers and unions are more willing to accept concessions to bring jobs back to the U.S.,” noted Michael Zinser, a BCG partner who leads the firm’s manufacturing work in the Americas. “Support from state and local governments can tip the balance.”
Mr. Zinser said U.S. executives need to look a bigger wage-cost picture.
“If you’re just comparing average wages in China against those in the United States, you’re looking at the problem in the wrong way,” Zinser cautioned. “Average wages don’t reflect the real decisions that companies have to make. Averages are historical and based on the country as a whole, not on where you would go today.”
Another factor is labor shortage.
“In the U.S., we have highly skilled workers in many of our lower-cost states. By contrast, in the lower-cost regions in China it’s actually very hard to find the skilled workers you need to run an effective plant,” added Doug Hohner, another BCG partner who focuses on manufacturing.
China will continue as a major player in manufacturing U.S. products, but Mr. Hohner offers these forecasts:
- First, investments to supply the huge domestic market in that nation will continue.
- Second, in the absence of trade barriers that prevent offshoring, Western Europe will continue to rely on China’s relatively lower labor rates since the region lacks the flexibility in wages and benefits that the U.S. enjoys.
- Third, even though other low-cost countries—such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia—will benefit from companies seeking wage rates that are lower than China’s, only a portion of the demand for manufacturing will shift from China. Smaller low-cost countries simply lack the supply chain, infrastructure, and labor skills to absorb all of it.
Public policy
My sense is the big question is whether government will start doing the right thing in public policy? Oops, that goes for unions, too, and the ostensible political motivations of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
A brouhaha comes to mind – the issues over Boeing launching a manufacturing plant in South Carolina. For years, state government and union political activity gave the aerospace giant no option, but to look for a better locale-alternatives to build the 787 Dreamliner.
An editorial in a Tacoma, WA newspaper, The News Tribune, made a salient comment: “The NLRB complaint – which alleges that Boeing retaliated against its workers for striking when it choose to expand in South Carolina rather than Washington – appears to be little more than an attempt to assuage battered union interests.” (The right way to win Boeing jobs for Washington state)
In a similar editorial, NLRB complaint against Boeing needs critical look, The Seattle Times cited President Obama’s rhetoric about generating jobs.
“Really a president does not create manufacturing jobs. He creates policies that may encourage companies to create jobs — companies like Boeing, which has now had the creation of 1,000 jobs in South Carolina second-guessed by Obama’s National Labor Relations Board,” wrote the editorial writers.
“In its complaint, the NLRB is attempting to reverse a U.S. investment by the nation’s No. 1 exporter 17 months after the company decided to make it — after the money has been spent, after the equipment is set up and after 1,000 workers have been hired. In South Carolina, assembly of the first 787 is scheduled to begin this summer. For the government to demand now that the company move everything to another state shows no sense of practical reality,” the newspaper asserted.
Agreed.
Let’s hope BCG is right and the manufacturing jobs return. But more than political rhetoric, we need competence in government. If the right public policies are implemented, political and economic liberties will improve for everyone – not just the unions’ leadership.
To visit the BCG Web site: www.bcg.com
From the Coach’s Corner, here are related public-policy columns:
Job Creation: Will Public Officials Listen to Intel’s CEO?
Solutions for 3 Dangers to Small Business, Travelers’ White Paper
Common Sense for Washington State Pension Reform
“I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.”
-Will Rogers
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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?
More Voters Say Washington State is Headed the Wrong Way
May 24, 2010
Washington state is headed south when it needs to go north. That’s what a larger percentage of voters is saying.
Disapproval ratings have significantly increased over the last six months, according to a new University of Washington poll. In fact, it’s a 16 percent increase in voter disapproval ratings – 44 percent of respondents believe Washington is “seriously on the wrong track.”
The double-digit increase in disapproval ratings – up from 38 percent in Oct. 2009 – was reflected in the nonpartisan academic poll, The Washington Poll. Forty-one percent say Washington is “going in the right direction.” Fifteen percent answered “don’t know.”
Voter opinions appear to coincide with the state’s economy. Sixty-two percent say “jobs/economy” will be the most important issue in the Nov. 2010 elections.
Twenty-seven percent cite healthcare reform as the No. 1 election issue.
Regarding the performance of Gov. Chris Gregoire, 17 percent “strongly approve” and 27 percent “somewhat approve.” But her disapproval ratings as a Democratic governor are higher than her approval ratings. Seventeen percent “strongly disapprove” and 30 percent “somewhat disapprove” of her performance.
Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, is favored by 42 percent while 39 percent indicate they’ll vote Republican.
When pitted against potential Republican candidate Dino Rossi, she holds a narrow 44 to 40 percentage lead with a margin error of 3.9 percent. The margin of error in the other contests is only 2.8 percent.
Thirty-five percent favor the income tax initiative on well-to-do state residents. But another 17 percent who lean yes also say they could change their minds, and another 10 percent are undecided. Meantime, 23 percent oppose it. Another 5 percent who lean no, say they might switch. Two percent who are undecided lean no.
Overall, the Legislature received an approval rating of 36 percent but netted a 43 percent disapproval rating.
Conducted in early May, 1,252 registered voters were surveyed in the poll sponsored by the Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race & Sexuality at the University of Washington School of Social Sciences.
To view the polling data: statewide, and the party and region.
Certainly, these results are not a surprise. The economy has been worsened by bad public policy. Again in the 2010 session, the Washington State Legislature violated standards of transparency, hiked taxes by $800 million, and failed to take prudent steps to head off another multi-billion dollar deficit in the near future.
What’s needed is reform for good government.
From the Coach’s Corner, to stay current on how state politics affects business, and for a wealth of data and information, visit these sites: www.awb.org, www.businessinstitutewa.org and www.enterprisewashington.org.
