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MuniNet Medley: 2/1/12 - Unemployment Trends, Tracking Health Care Reform, Best Cities for Hospitals, Hard-Hit Cities

Congrats to Bismarck, North Dakota, the metro recording the lowest unemployment rate (3.2 percent) among U.S. metro areas in December 2011, according to the latest Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The number of metro areas with unemployment rates higher than ten percent fell to 66 metro areas in December 2011 compared to 110 metro areas a year prior.   El Centro, California had the highest unemployment rate (26.8 percent); eight of the ten metro areas with the highest unemployment rates in December are located in California .... 

... Healthcare policy remains on the radar in 2012, but who can keep track of the various states’ health care reform legislation?  You can, thanks to a National Conference of State Legislatures database, which monitors state legislative actions related to provisions of the Affordable Care Act.  The database covers pending, enacted and failed bills pertaining to topics including Medicaid, Health Insurance Exchange, and Health Information Technology ... 

... Baltimore ranks top among U.S. cities for hospital care, says a recent study by HealthGrades, a healthcare rankings company.  Phoenix and Cedar Rapids took the second and third place positions in the second annual rankings, which are based on the city’s concentration of “distinguished” hospitals.  These top-performing hospitals demonstrate lower mortality and complication rates.  In Baltimore, 47 percent of area hospitals fall into the distinguished category ...

... Can electronic pull tabs be the key to financing a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings?  Proponents say yes, that electronic pulltabs in bars and restaurants could generate $72 million a year – the state’s share of building the stadium, according to a recent Star Tribune article.  Funding for the apparently controversial stadium would come from three sources, the state being one of them.  It’s a gamble ....

... Bet you can guess at least a few of the names on the list of the Nine American Cities Nearly Destroyed by the Recession, featured on 24/7 Wall Street – though some are lesser-known names that have quietly suffered in the background.   The article, based on information from the recently released report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors report and IHS Global Insight report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, examines cities that have been hardest hit by the housing crisis, loss or decline of a particular industry, and a reduction in government services and jobs.