Unemployment rate in the U.S.?

cnh

Hi all,

This is NOT meant as a 'political' question so I don't want to hear any L/R CANT! My question is, in your opinion; has employment picked up at all since I've been gone (it's been around a year). And from here it seems like employment has been FLAT and has been getting worse. This article seems to confirm that?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100714/ts_nm/us_usa_economy_unemployment

If you ask me, this kind of stuff is scarey, very scarey. Because large groups of unemployed people have never been stable or rational if one looks at the historical record. And it's also a shame that we can't seem to solve this problem.

cnh

Amherst

The ability to find gainful employment in our area has not improved.

Even scarier is the fact that most (if not all) employment statistics do not take into account the desperate who have taken a part time job at menial pay to "fill in" while they wait for things to get better. Another huge and neglected number.

I know of no one who has made a change in employment and had a gain in salary.

yepimonfire

where i live i've seen the economy degrade to a service economy, the only industry to find work in anymore is retail and the like. my dad has a degree in business management and he has been stuck working retail his entire life. he has probably put in over 1000 applications just since the beginning of the year.

inspiredsports

Employment opportunities are currently bleak, and looking forward, the outlook is far worse.

The false lull right now is based upon trillions of borrowed dollars being funneled into the economy that will eventually have to be repaid, and like they say, "Paybacks are a ****."

nooshinjohn

The situation is far worse than the numbers shown in the article you site. The true unemployment numbers are far closer to 18%


Government figures do not take into account those that are marginally employed(part-time work) and those that have fallen off the unemployment roles after their benefits have run out. The numbers also fail to count those that have given up looking for work all together. When I moved to West Lafayette, Indiana, unemployment here stood at 4.1 percent. Today that rate is hovering around 12 percent and is showing no signs of improvement. I went to fill out an application at a small company here in town for a decent job and saw twenty plus people doing exactly the same thing. I asked the receptionist how many apps had been taken and she said over 3000 in 4 days, some from more that 75 miles away!!!

It is not good here to say the least. If you need to find work here when you return, I would consider extending your options in China fo now.

Amherst

nooshinjohn wrote: »

The situation is far worse than the numbers shown in the article you site. The true unemployment numbers are far closer to 18%


Government figures do not take into account those that are marginally employed(part-time work) and those that have fallen off the unemployment roles after their benefits have run out. The numbers also fail to count those that have given up looking for work all together. When I moved to West Lafayette, Indiana, unemployment here stood at 4.1 percent. Today that rate is hovering around 12 percent and is showing no signs of improvement. I went to fill out an application at a small company here in town for a decent job and saw twenty plus people doing exactly the same thing. I asked the receptionist how many apps had been taken and she said over 3000 in 4 days!!!

It is not good here to say the least. If you need to find work here when you return, I would consider extending your options in China fo now.

What you say is true, a friend whom I grew up with and is high up in corporate finances, states he feels the numbers are in the low 20% area (22-23%), and climbing.
Barely below depression era levels.

Corporate brass is finally starting to wake up to this reality, because of the giant hit in the pockets (sales). All this is besides the BS government numbers, albeit too late.

tonyb

I used to travel upwards of 80 miles each way to work. Now even those jobs are scarce, and to top it off,the union goes on strike when no work is available. Even my wife's job is being looked at to get onto the chopping block because of her salary. When you force buisness to pay more in benefits or taxes,jobs go out the window. You may see Wall street posting profits, but not because of growth,but mainly they are doing what they need to, to sustain profitability. That scenario carry's into the mid and small buisness community also. Which for me anyway, tells me government doesn't know what the heck their doing, and the concerns of the average citizen is not their's. So the obvious question remains for those concerned about jobs....what are you going to do about it ? Continue on the same path ? Or change coarse ? This Nov. will tell, but I have a feeling it will be 2 more years before we see any real change to knock the unemployment figures down.

jdhdiggs

Everything that I've read states that the true unemployment numbers are ~20% with the underemployed ~20% as well meaning a full 40% of the potential work force isn't working full time.

Depending on your industry and education it's better or worse.

hearingimpared

It truly is scary. I'm on disability and need to find something to suppliment my SSD check. I checked with Social Security and I am permitted to work a day or two a week for only a few hours each day which is about all I can handle due to my disability. I've been looking all over Newark and Wilmington. Every place I go there is no work, why because these poor folks who lost their jobs and their benefits are taking jobs at minimum wage to try and keep their homes. I certainly will bow out to those people at every turn because at least (for the time being) my pay is not threatened by the economy. What is threatened is that prices keep going up, up, up and what I was making two years ago that had us living comfortably is no longer paying the bills i.e., don't have money left over for food, medications, gasoline etc.

This is a horrible state of affairs especially considering that even business like restaurants, pizza joints etc who use to pay under the table have stopped the practice so they can get every single tax benefit availible to keep themselves afloat.

It's bad, really bad. I really feel for people who can't find work after their benefits have run out. What are they to do?

fatchowmein

I'm concern because of the news but most of my friends and family who lost their jobs in 2007-2009 have regain employment at their prior income levels or better although benefits have taken a hit. I guess it's as jdhdiggs pointed out, it's all dependent on your industry and education levels but I would add location, location, location.

I also take note of foot traffic whenever I'm at the mall or a restaurant but have not really notice a reduction as was the case back in 2008-2009.

Knock on wood...

thuffman03

It's bad. It's is really bad.

madmax

Some of the unemployment numbers may be due to unending unemployment benifits. Most of us would go out and find whatever we could find but not everyone is like that. They paid into the system for a lifetime so why not take advantage of it as long as possible?

Hawkeye

In my industry and location, we can't find enough trained people to fill the openings we have. We're looking for 10 right now with an additional 15 by the end of the year. This translates into more work for the folks already there, but our company is hiring.

The location is probably the biggest drawback. There is not much night life for younger people and a hour drive to shop at a decent mall. Some of the jobs start at $28 per hour and still can't get folks to move here.

Gordon

TECHNOKID

cnh wrote: »

Hi all,

This is NOT meant as a 'political' question so I don't want to hear any L/R CANT! My question is, in your opinion; has employment picked up at all since I've been gone (it's been around a year). And from here it seems like employment has been FLAT and has been getting worse. This article seems to confirm that?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100714/ts_nm/us_usa_economy_unemployment

If you ask me, this kind of stuff is scarey, very scarey. Because large groups of unemployed people have never been stable or rational if one looks at the historical record. And it's also a shame that we can't seem to solve this problem.

cnh

Maybe a time for migration to the great Canadian country canada was not affected as many other countries economy wise. The smaller amount of workers available from the new generation along with so many baby boomers about to retire will surely make Canada a place of choice for work in the next few years

inspiredsports

TECHNOKID wrote: »

Maybe a time for migration to the great Canadian country canada was not affected as many other countries economy wise. The smaller amount of workers available from the new generation along with so many baby boomers about to retire will surely make Canada a place of choice for work in the next few years

But how are retirement benefits generated in Canada? Won't that small, young workforce be saddled with HUGE taxes? Methinks so .

inspiredsports

fatchowmein wrote: »

I'm concern because of the news but most of my friends and family who lost their jobs in 2007-2009 have regain employment at their prior income levels or better although benefits have taken a hit. I guess it's as jdhdiggs pointed out, it's all dependent on your industry and education levels but I would add location, location, location.

I also take note of foot traffic whenever I'm at the mall or a restaurant but have not really notice a reduction as was the case back in 2008-2009.

Knock on wood...

I wish I could share your viewpoint, but I believe EVERYTHING you are seeing now in terms of economic activity is a result of borrowed money being trickled into the system. In other words, the economic engine is NOT running on its own and money being injected is like a can of Instant Start (ether) that will soon be empty.

nooshinjohn

To restore the economy, we need to...

1. eliminate the massive EPA burdens on industry.
2. LOWER TAXES!!!
3. use incentive to companies that bring back good paying jobs that have been lost overseas.
4. dismantle the labor unions
5. LOWER TAXES!!!
6 and lastly... LOWER TAXES!!!

TECHNOKID

inspiredsports wrote: »

But how are retirement benefits generated in Canada? Won't that small, young workforce be saddled with HUGE taxes? Methinks so .

It's pretty hard to pay more taxes in Canada, we are already at the top :eek: Fact is, it is more likely the baby boomers and people like me (generation down) that will pay the tab by having their retirement benifit cut down.

Their will definitely be jobs available once the babyboomers retire and that should benefit this next geration and foreigners and as they get more people to fill in those jobs, it should generate the taxes necessary to balance things out (hopefully...).

Face

nooshinjohn wrote: »

3. use incentive to companies that bring back good paying jobs that have been lost overseas.
5. LOWER TAXES!!!\

This.

Zitro

nooshinjohn wrote: »

To restore the economy, we need to...

1. eliminate the massive EPA burdens on industry.
2. LOWER TAXES!!!
3. use incentive to companies that bring back good paying jobs that have been lost overseas.
4. dismantle the labor unions
5. LOWER TAXES!!!
6 and lastly... LOWER TAXES!!!

Agreed, but #2, 5 and 6 and always debated. Who get's their taxes lowered, and by how much? A hypothetical question, because I don't want to start a political debate; just something to think about.

inspiredsports

Zitro wrote: »

. . . who get's their taxes lowered, and by how much?

I do and you do, by a lot. That should about cover it.

vstarkwell

I don't believe employment has picked up I think it's is still pretty stagnant out there. I think more importantly is that the effects of the recession is going to have huge long term affects with regards to peoples credit & debt and digging out from under the carnage.

cfrizz

Hawkeye wrote: »

In my industry and location, we can't find enough trained people to fill the openings we have. We're looking for 10 right now with an additional 15 by the end of the year. This translates into more work for the folks already there, but our company is hiring.

The location is probably the biggest drawback. There is not much night life for younger people and a hour drive to shop at a decent mall. Some of the jobs start at $28 per hour and still can't get folks to move here.

Gordon

I bet that at one time, those jobs were in a city that had good transportation in & out of it, but they moved for cheaper rent & cheaper wages, now it's coming back to bite them in the ****!

These companies are **** everyone over, all they care about is the bottom line, but sooner or later they are going to be in trouble. They don't want to pay high wages, they don't want to employ us middle age baby boomers, and the kids that they hire dirt cheap are going to bail on them within a couple of years for more money.

If a vast # of money spending people are out of jobs, who is going to buy what they are trying to sell? Morons!

BlueFox

cnh wrote: »

Hi all,

This is NOT meant as a 'political' question so I don't want to hear any L/R CANT! My question is, in your opinion; has employment picked up at all since I've been gone (it's been around a year). And from here it seems like employment has been FLAT and has been getting worse. This article seems to confirm that?

Sort of ironic you are asking this from China when it is the outsourcing of jobs to China/India etc. that is partially behind the unemployment mess.

polkatese

nooshinjohn wrote: »

To restore the economy, we need to...

3. use incentive to companies that bring back good paying jobs that have been lost overseas.

This is the biggest danger of the future, IMO. In my profession, the need of these Multi National Companies (MNC) to reduce costs and increase bottom line, as dictated by Wall Street and Market, caused them to always look into ways to outsource/offshore jobs to cut cost.

The big Indian offshore: Tata, Wipro, Cognizant, HCL, Infosys, etc. etc. along with hundreds of smaller Indian companies are able to thrive in the US, with their $15 to $25/hour blended rate for white collar/administration jobs back home.

The only effective plan is for the Government to give measurable tax break(s) for these MNCs to keep jobs in the USA.

PhantomOG

I do feel bad for people out of work, but I feel that a lot of people in this country are of the mindset that somehow the "government" needs to protect them from tough times. Once you get a good job, you're supposed to go out and spend every last penny of every paycheck, buy a house you can't really afford, don't save for rainy day/retirement, and then if/when you lose your job, somehow blame the "government" for your position and expect uncle sam to pay your bills.

Current unemployment I believe taps out at almost 2 years. 2 years! I don't think I've been out of work for more than 2 months since I turned 16, even while I was in college. Was every job a dream job? No, but I did what I needed to do.

At some point, the idea of taking money from people who are working to pay a large percentage of the population to NOT work has to stop making sense.

nooshinjohn

Zitro wrote: »

Agreed, but #2, 5 and 6 and always debated. Who get's their taxes lowered, and by how much? A hypothetical question, because I don't want to start a political debate; just something to think about.

Everyone gets a cut... In fact, I would scrap the IRS all-together and go with a flat 15% on all income over 25k for an individual and 20% flat an corporate/business income above 500k.

According to most economists, this would be enough to handle everything and allow for paying of the national debt. To ensure these rates never change, a supermajority would be needed to increase them, and the only time such an option would be available would be in time of war.

There would be no need for ANY other taxes(state/sales taxes etc.) beyond the rates indicated above.

I am out on this topic:)...

PhantomOG

nooshinjohn wrote: »

4. dismantle the labor unions

You forgot part 2 of this one. We need to send the labor unions overseas. No amount of tax breaks from the government will stop jobs from going to slave labor wages overseas. Unions did their part here and I'm thankful for that. However, I feel like at this point they do more harm than good here in the US.

WilliamM2

PhantomOG wrote: »

Current unemployment I believe taps out at almost 2 years. 2 years! I don't think I've been out of work for more than 2 months since I turned 16, even while I was in college. Was every job a dream job? No, but I did what I needed to do.

At some point, the idea of taking money from people who are working to pay a large percentage of the population to NOT work has to stop making sense.

Unemployment may have lasted 2 years, but no longer. Right now the max is 26 weeks.

BTW, unemployment is paid into the entire time you are working, and even when unemployed, the employer bears most the cost, assuming they are still in business. It's insurance, not welfare.

Amherst

PhantomOG wrote: »

You forgot part 2 of this one. We need to send the labor unions overseas. No amount of tax breaks from the government will stop jobs from going to slave labor wages overseas. Unions did their part here and I'm thankful for that. However, I feel like at this point they do more harm than good here in the US.

You could not be more wrong. This is nothing more than news media generated banter.

The destruction of labor unions is a huge part of the decline in overall wages. Check your history. Take a hard look at Germany.

Companies will not pay a dime more than they have to. Unions are part of the checks and balances in the system between labor and corporations. Unions are already crushed in this country, less than 15% of the current workforce is union and most of those are civil service and teachers. So how is finishing them off going to help the economy???? It won't is the real answer.
Less spendable income is a brainless solution.

Twenty years ago the number was in excess of 40% and these were much better times...no???

inspiredsports

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Unemployment may have lasted 2 years, but no longer. Right now the max is 26 weeks.

BTW, unemployment is paid into the entire time you are working, and even when unemployed, the employer bears most the cost, assuming they are still in business. It's insurance, not welfare.

I'm curious if you are an employer or an employee?

I am the former. A rose by any other name is a rose. Unemployment "insurance" is welfare.