Washington, DC - Weather: Washington is expecting a major storm over the next two days. It’s beginning now, and 18+ inches are forecast. As of now, LIHEAP Action Day is on as scheduled. The weather service is forecasting more snow for Tuesday, but the amount is still unclear.

As of now, LIHEAP Action Day is still on for February 10.

We will monitor the forecasts carefully and update you again about Monday noon.

Our office is closing shortly, but if you have questions, please call 202-824-0660 or reply to this email. I will have access to both from home.

BREAKING NEWS

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced HR 4554 two days ago. The bill would authorize LIHEAP funding at $7.6 billion for Fiscal Years 2011-2014. We will have more details on the substance and the politics of the bill at the February 9 and February 10 briefings.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (Note: the press conference is now confirmed at 10 AM, not the tentative time of 10:30, which we previously communicated to you.)

Schedule of Activities

National Fuel Funds Network

LIHEAP Action Day, February 10, 2010

Tuesday, February 9

4:30-5:15 pm          Briefing on LIHEAP Action Day for early arrivals for Action Day– Edison Electric Institute, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 4^th Floor.

5:15-6:30 pm          Reception for Action Day delegates and Washington DC LIHEAP advocacy community – Edison Electric Institute, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 4^th Floor.

Wednesday, February 10

7:45 am                 Group Transportation from the Red Roof Inn, 500 H Street, NW to the American Gas Association, 400 North Capitol Street, NW

8:00-9:15 am         Breakfast and Briefing at American Gas Association

9:30-4:30 pm          Participants meet with US Senators, US Representatives and staff members in Senate and House Office Buildings

10:00 am               Press conference – 2253 Rayburn House Office Building

Lunch                    On your own

4:30 pm                 Debriefing and light reception at American Gas Association

Note on scheduling: NFFN has to schedule the press conference at the optimum time to secure the participation of Senators and Representatives at the event and coverage by the media. Some Action Day participants may have a conflict with scheduled meetings which entails their missing the press conference. Likewise, some participants may have early appointments which entail leaving the briefing session early or may have late afternoon meetings running into the scheduled debriefing session. Meetings should take precedence over the other events. We apologize for any conflicts that may arise in a very busy day.

UNEMPLOYMENT DATA

On January 29, I promised those who had registered by then a report on the Bureau of Labor of statistics monthly report on unemployment data. A re-write of today’s BLS list follows. The Bureau does not have county-by county data for January available yet. So, please view the following interactive map with county unemployment data from November 2009 and familiarize yourselves with your locale’s situation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/unemployment-by-county/.

The national unemployment rate fell from 10.0 to 9.7 percent in January according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In January, the number of unemployed Americans decreased to 14.8 million, the lowest level since August, the government agency reported.

Although the unemployment rate dropped, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) continued to trend up in January, reaching 6.3 million. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of long-term unemployed has risen by 5.0 million, according to the BLS.

The BLS reported that the decline in unemployment was the result of 541,000 Americans finding jobs in January.  While employment fell in construction, transportation and warehousing, jobs were added in temporary help services and retail trade.

In January, unemployment rates for most major worker groups--adult men (10.0 percent), teenagers (26.4 percent), blacks (16.5 percent), and  Hispanics (12.6 percent)--showed little change. The jobless rate for adult  women fell to 7.9 percent, and the rate for whites declined to 8.7 percent. The jobless rate for Asians was 8.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

For detailed information on the jobless rate visit the BLS website at www.bls.gov.