In light of the new unemployment news, you might want to check out this sobering read from Paul Krugman.

Indeed, the administration’s own economic projection — a projection that takes into account the extra jobs the administration says its policies will create — is that the unemployment rate, which was below 5 percent just two years ago, will average 9.8 percent in 2010, 8.6 percent in 2011, and 7.7 percent in 2012.

This should not be considered an acceptable outlook. For one thing, it implies an enormous amount of suffering over the next few years. Moreover, unemployment that remains that high, that long, will cast long shadows over America’s future.

The sixth annual Orange County Business Expo, originally scheduled for Monday, October 5, has been postponed until Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, at the Sheraton Chapel Hill, from 1-7 p.m.

“The Expo was rescheduled because of low exhibitor attendance,” wrote Meg Branson, director of membership services for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, in an email. The chamber is a co-sponsor of the event along with The Orange County Economic Development Commission and the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce. By moving the event to early December, organizers hope more exhibitors will sign up to “encourage visitors to shop locally during the holidays.”

For more information on the Expo, visit orangebusinessexpo.com, or contact Yvonne Scarlett at Orange County Economic Development at 245-2325 or yscarlett@co.orange.nc.us.

This from the Institute for Southern Studies:

Blue Cross takes invasive action to cut N.C. state employees’ health costs

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina holds a near-monopoly over the state’s health insurance market, controlling 72.5% of all individual and employer-provided health insurance.

It also holds a no-bid contract to insure state employees — a contract that came under criticism recently after a state audit found the company’s administrative expenses were almost $40 million more than expected. Because of how the contract was structured, the state was required to reimburse BCBSNC for all administrative costs but did not have a right to an explanation of those costs from the company.

Last month the House Committee on Energy and Commerce requested BCBSNC data [pdf] on executive compensation and administrative expenses from 2003 through 2008. Company CEO Bob Greczyn earned $4 million in 2008.

After receiving a $250 million bailout from the state of this past spring, North Carolina’s cash-strapped state employee health plan has reworked its contract with BCBSNC to give it greater oversight of administrative costs.

Meanwhile, the insurer has proposed draconian measures to cut the costs of covering state employees — including random testing of beneficiaries and their dependents for nicotine and excess body fat, WRAL reports:

The tobacco program, which will begin next July, will require smokers to quit or get into a cessation program if they want to keep the “standard plan” that requires patients to pay for 20 percent of a doctor bill after copayments and deductibles. Otherwise, the portion rises to 30 percent. …

Starting in July 2011, enrollees with a body mass index — a weight-height ratio that determines whether a person is considered overweight — below 40 can stay in the more generous plan. The standard becomes 35 in July 2012.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina objects to the proposals, with a spokesperson telling WRAL that the random testing is an invasion of privacy and the forced move to more expensive insurance a form of discrimination. SEANC says efforts to encourage state employees to get healthier should be done through incentives, not punishment.

At the same time BCBSNC is proposing draconian measures to cut the costs of covering state employees, it’s been an outspoken opponent of health insurance reform proposals that include a public option to compete with private insurers — a stance that’s drawing criticism.

Today Health Care for America Now — a national grassroots campaign working for health insurance reform — is holding a protest outside BCBSNC’s headquarters in Chapel Hill, N.C. The action will call on the company to let doctors determine patients’ needs, stop denying or dropping coverage due to a pre-existing medical condition and scrap all policies that reward its employees for denying care and rejecting claims.

The protesters will also call on BCBSNC to refrain from using its resources to oppose the health insurance reform proposals being considered by Congress.

BR at The Big Picture pulls a few choice graphs from this weekend’s NYT story which breaks down the problems in construction loans and what that spells for banks.

Those folks who believe the “all clear” whistle has sounded may find themselves in unpleasant circumstances in a few short quarters . . .

The national unemployment rate hit a 26-year high last month, according to data released this morning. U.S. employers cut 216,000 jobs in August, illustrating the continuing weakness of the labor market and overall economy. State and county jobless rates will be released later this month.

Good news for start-ups! The NC IDEA Grants Program has opened its fall funding cycle. NC IDEA awards four to six grants up to $50,000 to N.C.-based start-up companies, particularly those that have yet to receive equity funding. Start-ups in IT, medical devices/diagnostics, material sciences or green technologies are invited to submit an online pre-proposal application by Friday, September 18, at ncidea.org. Entrepreneurs who have not formed a company may apply, but company incorporation will be required prior to the award of grant funding.

Build your leadership capacity by enrolling in Leadership Chapel Hill-Carrboro – now in its 25th year. It’s a 10-week program designed to develop a continual pool of leadership talent. Twenty-five participants will learn about the social, cultural, political and economic facets of our community from local leaders. They’ll also participate in team-building exercises and skills curriculum taught by local experts. An opening reception will be held on Monday, Sept. 28; weekly classes begin Wednesday, Sept. 30 from 8 a.m.-noon. For more information, contact Meg Branson at 357-9977 or mbranson@carolinachamber.org. Register online and check out the schedule and list of invited guests at www.carolinachamber.org/leadership.

It’s not all bad news on the housing front. Zillow.com, the online housing data site, named Fayetteville, N.C., the best-performing housing market in the U.S., charting a 13.4 percent annual increase in its Zillow Home Value Index to $120,600 in June 2009.

Here at home, Carrboro also fared well over the last 12 months, recording a 4.0 percent increase for an index value of $237,600. Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, however, reported decreases in home values of 1.0 and 2.0 percent, respectively.

More detailed data is available at zillow.com/local-info.

A lot of premature happy talk this week bouncing out of the job numbers (and revisions). The Times makes a qualified case for what if they got it right.

Washington’s early responses to the bubbles in real estate and stocks, and then to the crisis that followed, were full of mistakes. But since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the record has started to change. The government has undertaken one extraordinary effort after another to revive the economy, and the economy has seemed to respond.

New job numbers are out. Via Reuters:

U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, far less than expected and the least in any month since last August, according to data on Friday that provided the clearest evidence yet that the economy was turning around.

Not just a less than expected shedding of jobs, but revisions for June and May that show a more positive trend. CNBC: Pace of Job Cuts Slows