Applications for unemployment aid tick up

[Nova78]

US applications for unemployment aid tick up | Comcast

More people sought unemployment benefits last week, suggesting that the job market's recovery remains slow.
Weekly unemployment benefit applications jumped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 380,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The previous week's figures were also revised higher. The four-week average, a less volatile gauge, rose to 368,500.

Obama says America is in full steam ahead, whats up ?

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd wantin' his job wringin' farts outta shirt-tails back atta dry cleanery...

Unemployment at 8.1 percent -- If this is recovery, where are the jobs?
May 6, 2012 : No matter how the unemployment figures are spun, a lot of people still are out of work, some 12.3 million.

The U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics released the April unemployment statistics Friday, showing they ticked down a notch to 8.1 percent -- better than March's 8.2 percent and much better than April 2011 when unemployment climbed to 9 percent. It was good news but the focus was on the number of jobs created -- the only real mechanism for putting people to work and reinvigorating the economy. Labor said 115,000 jobs were created last month -- 130,000 in the private sector as governments continued to shed workers. The number represents about half what is needed to bring back the roaring '90s when the federal government showed budget surpluses. And if healthcare, social services and temporary business services are excluded, only 91,000 private-sector jobs were created.

University of Maryland economist Peter Morici said for unemployment to be reduced to 6 percent within the next three years, the economy would have to add 370,000 a month, something that's not going to happen with the gross domestic product growth limping along at the first quarter's 2.2 percent. Friday's "employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, but much more remains to be done to repair the damage caused by the financial crisis and the deep recession," said Alan B. Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Krueger said 4.25 million payroll jobs have been added to the U.S. economy since February 2010 when unemployment stood at 9.7 percent.

The problem with unemployment figures is that they only reflect the number of people actively looking for work -- not those who have given up or are underemployed. The BLS estimates 5.1 million people have been without work for 27 weeks or more, with 7.9 million working part-time because their hours have been cut back or they are unable to find full-time work. Some 2.4 million others "were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey," the BLS said. If all those discouraged workers are included, estimates for real unemployment stand at 14.5 percent, 18 percent if all the new college graduates working at fast-food jobs are counted, Morici estimates.

Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said the answer is investment to create more jobs and increased wages to stimulate demand. "Increasingly, Americans are finding that low-wage jobs are their only option," Owens said. "While solutions such as the restoration of organizing and bargaining rights, stronger enforcement of wage laws, and a renewed social compact among corporations and their employees are powerful and necessary antidotes for the troubling erosion of wages, a critical first step we could take right now is to raise the minimum wage, close loopholes like the excessive employer tip credit, and index the rate to inflation so that it keeps pace with the rising cost of living."

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‘Real’ Unemployment Rate Remains at 14.5 Percent
May 7, 2012 – The “real” unemployment rate – a broader, more inclusive measure of the country’s jobless picture than the one usually used – remained unchanged at 14.5 percent in April, as the economy created a paltry 115,000 jobs.

Known formally as the U-6 unemployment rate, this measure includes those formally counted as unemployed, those known to be marginally attached to the workforce, and those who are working part-time because they cannot find full-time work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U-6 unemployment rate remained flat in April at 14.5 percent – meaning some 22.8 million people are either unemployed, have stopped looking for work, or need full-time work but can only find part-time employment.

The U-6 rate is considered to be a more accurate measure of the unemployment picture because it includes a broader sample of those affected by poor economic conditions. By including both unemployed persons and those marginally attached, this measure captures people the BLS would normally count as out of the workforce.

Being marginally attached to the workforce means that a person is not employed and has not looked for a job in the past month – but would accept a job if any were available. The measure best captures people who are available to work but who have given up looking for a job. The government does not count these people as officially unemployed because they have not looked for work in the past month. They are usually deemed not to be in the labor force at all, and essentially disappear from the government’s survey of unemployment.

By counting people who can only find part-time work and including it in a measure of unemployment BLS is able to track what is known as underemployment – when someone is forced to work part-time because full-time work is unavailable. This measure provides a deeper look into the relative weakness of the jobs market than that provided by the official unemployment rate because while these people are employed, they are not as productive as they could – and would like to – be.

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[waltky]

Thank Uncle Ferd - he gonna retire inna few years...

The number of baby boomers retiring is holding down the unemployment rate
May 27, 2012 - President Obama can thank baby boomers at least in part for the drop in the U.S. unemployment rate with the first post-World War II generation hitting retirement age at a rate of 10,000 a day.

Unemployment in April fell 0.1 point to 8.1 percent, well below the recession/post-recession peak of 10.1 percent in October 2009. But economists have noted the drop in large part is the effect of people giving up the search rather than job creation. "Even at its best, job creation is falling well short of what is needed to make a substantial dent in unemployment," observed John Challenger, chief executive officer of the Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "While some would like to attribute the lack of hiring to uncertainty and regulatory roadblocks, the fact is that demand for goods and services simply has not reached a level that warrants accelerated hiring."

The Economic Policy Institute estimates about a third of those dropping out of the workforce are boomers, whether retirement was a choice or the result of job loss. But that leaves two-thirds of those who have given up seeking work still battling a sagging economy. In its recent "State of Working America" labor force participation analysis, the institute found the percentage of the unemployed actively seeking work dropped by 2 percentage points from the height of the recession to the end of 2011, with a further decline in the first four months of 2012. A third of the decline was structural -- boomers retiring -- and the rest cyclical, the result of the economic cycle.

"Why does this debate matter? Most concretely, for close observers of economic trends, this debate is consequential because the answer allows us to determine the number of 'missing workers' [workers who would be in the labor market if job prospects were strong]. In turn, this helps provide a sense of how much upward pressure will be exerted on the unemployment rate if the economy begins a robust jobs recovery. While it may sound counter-intuitive for a robust recovery to put upward pressure on the unemployment rate, it can happen …," the institute said. "If the decline in labor-force participation in recent years was largely driven by otherwise-willing workers who were discouraged from looking for work because of the weak job market, a robust recovery would draw them into the labor market, boosting the labor-force participation rate [as they would now be 'actively looking for work'], and thus the unemployment rate."

The report finds 64.1 percent of people at least 16 years of age were in the labor force in 2011, 1.3 percent fewer than historic trends would have predicted. "In other words, this exercise suggests that around two-thirds of the decline in the overall labor-force participation rate between 2007 and 2011 [1.3 percentage points out of a 1.9-percentage-point decrease] was due to a cyclical drop in the demand for workers, and the rest was part of long-term structural trends," the institute said.

Read more: Jobs: The number of baby boomers retiring is holding down the unemployment rate - UPI.com

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USPS offers buyouts to 45K mail handlers
WASHINGTON, May 26,`12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Postal Service, seeking to reduce staff and cut costs, said it is offering $15,000 buyouts to 45,000 mail handlers.

The mail handlers, who work at post offices and mail-processing centers, sort mail, transport it within facilities and load and unload trucks. The buyouts, to be pro-rated for part-time staff, will be available to almost all the USPS mail handlers except 2,000 who aren't career employees, CNN reported. "The Postal Service is adjusting the size of its network to adapt to America's changing mailing trends," USPS spokesman Mark Saunders said in an e-mail.

The service seeks to reduce its workforce by 150,000 by 2015. Saunders said he had "nothing to announce" on possible buyouts for other USPS employees. The buyout resulted from negotiations between the USPS and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union.

The union said the buyout offer "is intended to provide a financial cushion, and added peace of mind, for mail handlers who might be prepared to move on to the next chapter of their lives." For the first three months of this year, the Postal Service reported a $3.2 billion loss. It faces declining mail volume and a congressional mandate to pay in advance for retirement healthcare benefits.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/20...il-handlers/UPI-68941338066668/#ixzz1w9ZnEpcA

 

[Douger]

There is no recovery. EVER !
Until you figure that out you're in a dreamland (nightmare, I suppose)

 

[waltky]

Millionaires gettin' unemployment...

2,362 Millionaires Got Unemployment Benefits
August 13, 2012 - There were 2,362 people who earned a million dollars or more in taxable income in 2009 and who also received federal unemployment benefits that year, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.

In fact, these millionaires collectively raked in more than $20 million in unemployment benefits. The Congressional Research Service report--Receipt of Unemployment Insurance by Higher-Income Unemployed Workers (“Millionaires”)--was published on Aug. 2 and was based on the most recent data available from the Internal Revenue Service. “Among tax filers with AGI [Adjusted Gross Income] of $1 million or more, 2,840 reported receipt of unemployment benefit income in 2008 and 2,362 tax filers reported receipt of unemployment benefit income in 2009,” the CRS reported. The CRS reported that millionaires received $20.8 million in federal unemployment benefits in 2009, up from $18.6 million in 2008. That averages out to $8,806 in unemployment benefits per millionaire.

Unemployment insurance is a joint federal-state program and is funded by a payroll tax assessed against all workers. In the four years preceding 2012, according to the Tax Foundation, the unemployment insurance system was in the red. "Between 2008 and 2011, $174 billion was paid in unemployment taxes while $450 billion was paid out in benefits, a gap of $276 billion," the Tax Foundation said. Department of Labor regulations require that unemployment benefits must be paid to all unemployed workers regardless of their income. "This requirement is based upon a 1964 U.S. Department of Laobr (DOL) decision that precludes states from means-testing to determine UC [unemployment compensation] eligibility," the CRS said in its report. "Under this interpretation, federal law requires entitlement compensation to be determined from facts or causes related to the individuals state of unemployment," said CRS. "Thus, the DOL requires that states pay compensation for unemployment to all eligible beneficiaries regardless of their income level because individual or household income would not be considered to impact the fact or cause of unemployment."

In addition to the 2,362 people with adjusted gross incomes of $1 million or more who got unemployment benefits in 2009, there were also 8,335 people with incomes between $500,000 and $1 million who received benefits and 120,227 with incomes between $200,000 and $500,000 who received benefits. On July 17, House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer said that unemployment benefits along with food stamps were the two most stimulative things the government could do for the economy. "If you talk to economists, they will tell you there are two things that are the most stimulative that you can do--one’s unemployment insurance, the other’s food stamps, okay?” said Hoyer. “Why is that?” Hoyer said. “Because those folks who receive those resources must spend them. And they’ll spend them almost upon receipt. Most economists with whom I talk believe that those with significant discretionary income, that that’s not the case.”

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[Avorysuds]

We could have 40% UE but if 70% of people are on welfare then you can still win elections.

 

[waltky]

State Unemployment Rates Rise In 44 States...

State unemployment rates rise in 44 states
Aug 17, 2012 - Only 2 states, DC saw rates edge lower in July

The state unemployment picture worsened last month, with jobless rates creeping higher in 44 states, according to a government report released Friday. Only two states and the District of Columbia saw unemployment rates edge lower in July, while four states saw no change in rates, according to the Labor Department's monthly report on state unemployment.

That's worse than the previous month, when far fewer states recorded increases in unemployment rates. In June, jobless rates rose in 27 states, while 11 states and the District of Columbia reported rate declines and 12 states had no change. Nevada, a swing state in the upcoming presidential election, posted the highest unemployment rate last month, at 12 percent. Rhode Island and California followed, with rates of 10.8 percent and 10.7 percent. North Dakota, where an oil boom has led to a flurry of new jobs, had the lowest unemployment rate in the country last month, at 3 percent.

Among key swing states this election, six states reported that their unemployment rates rose last month: Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire and Iowa. Ohio's unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.2 percent. Wisconsin, which CNN moved into the toss-up column Thursday, posted a rise in unemployment to 7.3 percent from 7 percent.

Compared to the same month a year ago, only three states have jobless rates of 10 percent or higher, down significantly from 10 states and the District of Columbia last year. Overall, 44 states and the District of Columbia have lower jobless rates than a year ago. Earlier this month, the government's widely watched monthly jobs report showed that employers added 163,000 jobs in July, but the jobless rate increased to 8.3 percent. According to the state unemployment report released Friday, 23 states posted rates below that national rate last month, while eight states had higher rates.

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No-bama 2012: Young voters fed up with economy
17 Aug.`12 - 'Millennials have concluded government intervention is the problem, not the solution'

GO boasted this past week that its family of Facebook pages – with names like “We Like Small Government” and “Gas Prices Are too D— High” – have topped over 4 million “likes” and growing, fueled by a young demographic that polls show is increasingly disillusioned with Obama’s economic policies. “Every day, young Americans search for meaningful, full-time jobs in a career of their choice and, instead, experience first-hand the stark reality imposed by the poor economy,” states Paul. T. Conway, president of GO and a former chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Labor. “Rather than resorting to pessimism, however, young adults are taking a harder look at who and what is creating barriers to economic opportunity. “Increasingly, they identify elected officials and policies that result in more government interference,” Conway continues. “As they continue to deal with the highest sustained unemployment since World War II, Millennials have definitely concluded that government intervention in the economy is the problem, not the solution.”

If Conway is right, it puts “Millenials” – 66 percent of whom voted for Obama in the last presidential election – at stark odds with economic solutions the president has touted thus far. From the stimulus bill passed early in his presidency to proposed job bills and even the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama has repeatedly demonstrated a belief in increased government involvement in the private sector, while at the same time calling for increased taxes on the investors and business owners many Millenials are hoping will hire them. Conway told WND that message isn’t connecting. “Whether you’re a Republican, Democrat or independent, at the end of the day, your aspirations, career, dreams, ability the live the life you envision are all tied to full-time work,” Conway said. “When you have politicians who vilify those who have the means and courage to create business, and you have so many looking for jobs … when we’re out in the field talking to people about solutions instead, we get immediate interest.”

“I’ll tell you about an amazing poll,” Conway told WND. “A July 22 poll of 1,000 voters from the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU [which spent $28 million backing Obama in the 2008 election], asked 18-29 years olds whether they would vote for Obama or Romney. Though 66 percent voted for Obama in 2008, only 49 percent answered Obama in 2012, with 41 percent for Romney and undecideds at 10 percent. “When asked about the president’s job performance, 37 percent approved, 57 percent disapproved,” Conway continued. “When asked if the country was heading in the right direction, 22 percent said yes; 75 percent said America is on the wrong track. “As a veteran of over 100 campaigns, when you have a swing vote of 10 percent in a demographic and that demographic is saying at 75 percent that the country is on the wrong track – when you’ve got a candidate formerly at 66 percent support now below 50 percent – you have a major problem as a candidate,” Conway concluded.

“The core issue,” Conway told WND, “is that people cannot find economic opportunity, cannot find meaningful, full-time jobs in the field of their choice, and they’re being asked to settle for the status quo instead: part-time work, not in their field, at below their skill level for their education. People are not going to settle for that.” GO has been tracking the impact of the slumping economy on 18-29-year-olds and has released a series of reports showing how the demographic has not only suffered disproportionately under the economic conditions, but has also turned against the president’s plans for more and more government solutions to the problem.

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[waltky]

Number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell only slightly last week...

Leading indicators, unemployment report show weakness
20 Sept.`12 WASHINGTON (AP) -- A key measure of economic activity declined in August for the second time in three months, suggesting the economy remains weak.

The Conference Board says its index of leading indicators, designed to forecast future economic activity, dipped 0.1% in August after rising 0.5% in July and dropping 0.5% in June. The weakness in August came from declines in manufacturing orders, consumer confidence and average weekly manufacturing hours. Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein says the index depicts an economy still facing significant domestic and international weakness. The overall economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.7% in the April-June quarter. Many economists believe growth will stay weak in the second half of this year. Earlier, the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell only slightly last week to a seasonally adjusted 382,000. The level suggests hiring remains weak.

Labor said applications declined 3,000 from the previous week, which was revised up. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose for a fifth week to 377,750, highest level in nearly three months. Applications were skewed higher two weeks ago by fallout from Hurricane Isaac. A Labor Department spokesman said there were no special factors in the latest week. Weekly applications are a measure of the pace of layoffs. When they consistently top 375,000, it typically suggests hiring is too weak to lower the unemployment rate.

Employers added only 96,000 jobs last month, below the 141,000 in July and much lower than the average 226,000 added the first three months of the year. Recent job gains are barely enough to keep up with the growth of the working age population and aren't enough to rapidly drive down unemployment. The unemployment rate dropped in August to 8.1% from 8.3%, but only because the number of people working or looking for work fell. A separate monthly report from the Labor Department earlier this month showed that layoffs were at the lowest level in July in the 11 years the government has tracked the data.

The economy isn't growing fast enough to support much more hiring. It grew at a tepid 1.7% annual rate in the April-June quarter, down from 2% in the January-March quarter and 4.1% in the final three months of last year. Growth isn't likely to get much better for the rest of this year. Economists expect it to grow at a roughly 2% pace. That's typically too weak to create enough jobs to lower the unemployment rate. High unemployment and sluggish growth prompted the Federal Reserve to announce several major steps to boost the economy last week. Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed will buy $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities a month until there is "substantial" improvement in the job market. Bernanke said at a news conference that high unemployment is "a grave concern" that causes "enormous suffering."

States with the biggest declines in unemployment claims:

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BLS: Obama Unemployment Rate Above 8% Longer Than Any Other President Since 1948
September 18, 2012 – Excluding January 2009, the month when Barack Obama was inaugurated, unemployment has stayed above 8 percent, which is longer than under any other administration since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) started measuring the monthly jobless rate: Over 8 percent for 43 months during Obama compared to a total of 39 months above 8 percent between 1948 and 2008.

Over the course of 50 years, the unemployment rate in the United States was above 8 percent for a total of 3 years and 3 months; under Obama alone, the rate has been above 8 percent for 3 years and 7 months. Also, no other president presided over three consecutive years of average annual unemployment of more than 8 percent before Obama, according to the BLS data. The rate was above 8 percent throughout 1975, under President Gerald Ford, and throughout 1982 and 1983, under President Reagan. However, the rate went to 7.8 percent in February 1984 and continued to fall steadily under Reagan – at the end of his second term in 1988, unemployment was down to 5.3 percent.

According to the BLS, starting in 1948, unemployment in the United States never surpassed 8 percent until January 1975, when it hit 8.1 percent. In the Carter years, it fluctuated between 7.5 percent and 5.6 percent. And from February 1984 to January 2009, the rate fluctuated from a high of 7.8 percent to a low of 3.9 percent. When President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, unemployment was 7.8 percent. The next month, it climbed to 8.3 percent and peaked at 10 percent in October 2009. It remained above 9 percent for all of 2010, before falling to 8.9 percent in May 2011, rising again to 9 percent in April, and dropping again to 8.9 percent in November 2011. For all of 2012, the rate has been above 8 percent.

Prior to Obama no president presided over three years of average annual unemployment of 8 percent. The average annual unemployment for 2009 was 9.3 percent, in 2010 it was 9.6 percent and was 8.9 percent in 2011. In 1975, during the Ford administration, the annual average unemployment rate was 8.5 percent. For two years during Reagan’s first term, unemployment surpassed 9 percent: in 1982 at 9.7 percent and 1983 and 9.6 percent.

Unemployment peaked under Ford in May 1975 at 9 percent. Unemployment peaked under Reagan in November and December of 1982 at 10.8 percent for both months. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, unemployment was the highest in the 20th century under the administrations of Demcoratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, particularly the years 1933 through 1941. The unemployment rate was 24.7 percent in 1933 and declined to 14.18 percent in 1937. It then went up to 18.91 percent in 1938 and was still at 9.66 percent in 1941, when the United States entered World War II.

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