Looking for another way to see the impact of the recession? The AP economic stress index shows county by county the trends in the United States economy.
You can view the AP economic stress index here. The AP took information on unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcies in each county and then created an index that assigns a color based on how well or badly the economy is doing. The AP economic stress index shows visually the economic trends in the country.
What does the latest AP index show?
Well, things are pretty bad everywhere. Duh.
There used to be a “safe zone” in middle America from the Great Plains to Texas, which was protected from the recession because of the historically high prices in energy and crops. Over the last few months, that safe zone has shrunk.
Basically, unless you live in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, northern Texas or eastern New Mexico, you’ve been hit by the recession. Rural areas that depend on farming or mining have been hit less by the financial meltdown, so these states have much higher employment than places like California and Florida.
However, thanks to the recession, even these areas will likely feel the pinch as demand slows for crops and coal.
Who has it the worst? Michigan, California, Oregon, the Northeast, Florida, or basically anywhere with large population centers.
Perhaps Obama needs to work on coloring this map.
See video regarding the AP economic stress index below:
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Obama has sure made a mess of things. If the country were managed like a well-run corporation, Obama would be fired.
August 2nd, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Wake up America! obama and his socialist policies are devastating this country and there’s no end in sight. I wouldn’t be surprised if these numbers double or come close to doubling before he is voted out of office. In a way this is good, maybe the American people will never vote democrat again! Until then, hold onto your hats!
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:28 am
Come on. Obama has very little to do with this recession which started, by the way, in 2007, over a year before Obama was even elected. Seems to me that the Republicans are to blame for this mess. I would assume that most of the bankers, brokers and financial planners who caused this mess vote Repub, so I think all this Obama-bashing is basically bigotry posing as politics.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:36 pm
What you think and what the facts are are two different stories. Ever hear of Barney Frank (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac) or Lehman Brothers. Republicans tried to stop the sub-prime lending Fann.M/Fred.M were doing and obama signed onto a fillibuster in 2005 to stop the Republicans from reforming it. And even if you had the benefit of the doubt and didn’t go back to the past, obama’s policies are making things worse, unlike he claimed when campaigning with all of the solutions. He knew what he was getting into and his own vice president bozo biden admitted that their economic team underestimated the severity of the recession, then went on to say he was going to spend us out of bakruptcy. Common man, give me a break!