Archives for February 2016

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Pictured are the oil fields with pump jacks scattered throughout the area of Loco Hills, which is located between Artesia and Hobbs.
Albuquerque New Mexico(Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — While one report says New Mexico is among three states at risk of recession, an Albuquerque economist disagrees and says New Mexico is in better shape than other areas hit by the ongoing drop in oil and gas prices.
State economic performance indexes tracked by Moody’s Analytics show that New Mexico, Louisiana and Oklahoma are potentially facing prolonged declines and risk sliding into a recession, according to Bloomberg Business.
The news outlet said that as economists size up the chances of the first nationwide slump since 2009, pockets of the country already have been contracting. It said Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming have hit recession mode.
The regions suffering the most are in the flop stage of the energy industry’s boom-to-bust cycle, and manufacturing-dependent areas hurt by a rising dollar are at risk of receding.
Job gains and losses are key factors the National Bureau of Economic Research uses to chart U.S. expansions and recessions.
New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 6.7 percent in December and January was highest in the nation. And New Mexico’s Permian Basin in the southeast and the San Juan Basin in the northwest have, indeed, been hit hard by the crash in oil and gas prices, with at least 6,000 people estimated to have lost their jobs in those areas as of last fall. In addition, a sharp decline in state revenue has significantly impacted the state budget.
But jobs continue to grow, albeit slowly, in other parts of the state, said Jeffrey Mitchell, director of the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research.
“The recovery has been weak in general, but we saw some significant improvement in 2014 and early 2015,” Mitchell said. “Growth has slowed since then, but I certainly wouldn’t describe it as recession.”
That’s particularly true in the greater Albuquerque area, which accounts for about 45 percent of all jobs in New Mexico.
“The economy in Albuquerque is not tied closely to oil and gas, and that’s where we’re seeing the strongest employment growth,” Mitchell told the Journal. “To be sure, the Permian and San Juan basins are disproportionately impacted, and the cuts in revenue have hurt the state budget, but I wouldn’t say it pushed us into negative territory.”
By: Journal Staff (Albuquerque Journal)
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — No one stood on a chair Thursday night, but there was plenty of shouting and anger.

For the second time in two days, executives from City Hall faced skepticism as they answered questions from the public about Albuquerque Rapid Transit – a $119 million plan to build a network of canopy-covered stations and bus-only lanes down Central Avenue.

But it wasn’t quite as heated as Wednesday’s meeting, when people repeatedly shouted one another down, and one opponent stood on a chair to make his point.

The city still got an earful Thursday. Residents said they fear the project will push traffic away from Central and into more-residential streets like Lead and Coal. They wanted to know how businesses would survive the construction period. And plenty of people had pointed questions about the project’s design and potential to attract riders.

The city offered answers to each question – arguing there’s enough traffic capacity on nearby streets, for example – though the crowd didn’t seem satisfied.

Michelle Heath, a 32-year-old legal assistant who works in Nob Hill, had a practical question: How are people going to parallel park along Central when there’s only one lane of traffic, without causing a backup?

She noted that she’s a “millennial,” the generation that supporters say is hungry for mass transit.

“I’m basically the target demographic,” Heath said, “and I think this is a very bad idea.”

Many audience members wanted to know if the project is a “done deal.”

Chris Sanchez, left, wears a protest sign as he and Chris Fairchild, right, both with Victory Hill Neighborhood Association, pass out anti-ART signs during a public meeting about the proposed Albuquerque Rapid Transit project on Central at Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Thursday, February 25, 2016. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)

Michael Riordan, the city’s chief operations officer, said the City Council has already approved city money for the project and President Barack Obama has recommended federal funding. The mayoral administration believes it can start construction in May without another City Council vote.

Pete Dinelli – a former city councilor who lost a campaign to unseat Mayor Richard Berry in 2013 – pointed out that any councilor could introduce a resolution ordering a halt to the project.

But City Councilor Pat Davis, who represents the Nob Hill area, where Thursday’s meeting was held, told the crowd that he thinks such a proposal would fail. It would need six of nine council votes to overcome a veto by Berry, he said, and the council approved funding last year without opposition.

Davis joined the council in December, well after the vote to approve funding.

Riordan, for his part, pledged to have another meeting dedicated only to public comments and questions. Thursday’s meeting was held at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, and the room appeared to be filled to its 175-person capacity.

By: Dan McKay (Albuquerque Journal)

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