Broader Measure of Unemployment Stands at 17.5%

[Truth2Tell]

Source: New York Times

By DAVID LEONHARDT

For all the pain caused by the Great Recession, the job market still was not in as bad shape as it had been during the depths of the early 1980s recession — until now.

With the release of the jobs report on Friday, the broadest measure of unemployment and underemployment tracked by the Labor Department has reached its highest level in decades. If statistics went back so far, the measure would almost certainly be at its highest level since the Great Depression.

In all, more than one out of every six workers — 17.5 percent — were unemployed or underemployed in October. The previous recorded high was 17.1 percent, in December 1982.

This includes the officially unemployed, who have looked for work in the last four weeks. It also includes discouraged workers, who have looked in the past year, as well as millions of part-time workers who want to be working full time.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/business/economy/07econ.html?_r=1&src=tw

[FrenchieCat]

1. But unemployment has always been higher than what is stated.....

so why is the New York Times revealing this just now? :shrug:

[HughMoran]

2. 'Cause the big number is impressive and scares people

Of course then never mention this measure during periods of normal unemployment rates.

[FrenchieCat]

3. I recall when we would talk about it on DU....how the unemployment rate was so much higher.....

just like how Bush never included paying for war into the budget.

At the time, the NYT never ever mentioned these things.

Odd.

[girl gone mad]

4. Probably because it's the highest it's been since the Great Depression.

That's newsworthy.

[caseymoz]

6. We've got about six percent to go to reach the Great Depression worst.

I can't imagine what this country will be like if it reaches that point.

[WestSeattle2]

28. I can and it's not pretty. Increase in street and domestic violence,

suicide and homicide rates spike, workplace rampages, hunger at untold levels......basic unraveling of our social fabric.

[phasma ex machina]

12. +1

Allow me to filter NYT word salad spin. Chart below courtesy of Calculated Risk. Yet another Friday night, which means its also time to leak some more bank failures. #116 - #120 now listed at that blog.

[Algorem]

17. because the new york times is liberal and they want to help...OK,well,

they...no.but we do know that the new york times is very very liberal.

[No Elephants]

21. No major news outlet of which I am aware is liberal.

And, when outlets were allegedly liberal, they observed journalistic ethics a lot more than anyone observes them today.

[PatrynXX]

5. Kinda absurd

That Obama gets slammed in 10 months for the job losses while it took Reagan a good 2 years or so to screw it up. That one is beyond doubt who's fault it was and still he was re elected. And I was 9 at the time Mondale ran, but never have been sure what gave Reagan such an edge. Sure wasn't jobs.

[defendandprotect]

8. Repugs have been working for "third world America" for decades now . . . !!!

And they're almost there!!

[No Elephants]

22. Name recognition, personal likeability, optimism, patriotism, wholesomeness, sense of humor

and the like. He was so familiar to folks, he seemed like an old friend. An honest, sincere friend, you could really trust.

Plus, his riff about small government and lowering costs (and therefore taxes) appealed to a lot of people.

And, when he spoke of America as the city on the hill, people felt special, proud and, dare I say it, hopeful.

Plus, people had fallen for the "he freed the hostages" in his first two hours in office myth. And that made him seem effective.

Turns out his ideas were destined to bring us to the brink of worldwide economic collapse, but, what the heck. We wanted to win one for the Gipper.

(And by "we," I don't mean moi. I was aghast when he was elected.)

[NecklyTyler]

24. Reagan plowed up the works well past his two years of running amok

It was President Carter who identified the root cause of our present economic woes. He told us flat out that using petroleum for energy in general and using foreign produced oil in particular could not sustain our economy. President Carter identified the problem, offered solutions, and established the tools to prosper. Then Ronald Reagan took over and through back room deals with the oil companies and OPEC made the United States dependent of foreign oil producing nations. Nothing was done to solve our energy problems for eight years of Reagan, four years of Bush, and eight more years of Bush.

Today we have the opportunity to pass environmental legislation to control the emission of carbon pollution and get our energy supply under control once and for all, but the right wing has politicized the argument for their selfish benefit to the determent of the whole country.

[Lorien]

43. The party in control now-the Dems- are hardly showing any real sign of

taking ACTION to get us off fossil fuels and on to green, clean energy. No one wants to take on the guardians of the status quo.

[defendandprotect]

7. Now, sadly . . . that's believable . .. !! Hidden truths are dangers to a democracy ....

[Truth2Tell]

9. Ya know, the fact that the NYT is reporting over 17%

makes me suspect that the real may actually be higher than that.

[defendandprotect]

11. I agree .. . it was at least 15 years ago that it felt like 16.5....!!!

I really agree . . .

And why would the Repugs want anyone to know anything like that --

they've really screwed the records and info gathering, I'm sure --

[Ozymanithrax]

10. And he Republicans will laugh all the way back into power.

If this does not turn around, they could retake the house in 2010.

[defendandprotect]

13. Of course if we were the Repugs, we'd be blaming this on them . . . and eh . . .

actually, who's to blame but the Repugs and the Dems who have voted with them

to overturn the New Deal?

[Ozymanithrax]

14. It doesn't matter who is to blame. Democrats will pay the price because they are in power.

Republicans have played politics with the economy quite well. Just stand back and do nothing and they will be rewarded by Americans with power.

[defendandprotect]

16. We have to learn how to reverse things as well as they do . . .it's simply lies they tell . . .

and who would be dumb enough not to understand that knocking over the New Deal

and regulations on capitalism did this?

The public will remember the last 8 years, will they not?

[Ozymanithrax]

18. The public will go to the polls, and if they are miserable, frightened, jobless, or afraid of losing

their jobs, they will vote Republican.

A lot of he people who vote don't have a clue about what the New Deal Regulations were. Hell, a lot of them have no idea what the New Deal was. All they know is whether they are doing good or doing bad. If they feel they are doing bad, they will vote Republicans.

Individuals are smart, but voting tends to bring out heard behavior.

[defendandprotect]

19. They don't have a clue because Democrats didn't tell them . . .

quite a few were complicit in these events that moved us to corporatism.

Corporate money -- and DLC --

[Le Taz Hot]

26. I disagree.

At this point I think people are sick and tired of BOTH major political parties. People are FINALLY getting a clue that none of these guys represent us. Sure, you'll still have the Party Faithful, on both sides, but MOST Americans are NOT loyal to a particular party. That old axiom that people vote with their feet remains true. I think in 2010 they'll either stay home or they'll look for non-corporate alternatives.

[C_Lawyer09]

32. An alternative

I agree with you. One big problem is that alternatives to the problem can't get on state ballots without a huge amount of work or changing laws, this is no accident. Libertarians, independents and liberals, Nader for an example had to fight like hell, and get ridiculous amounts of signatures in a short time even to be heard by a small audience. Remember John Anderson in 1980? He was able to get 15% of the vote, because corporate interests did not have a say on who debated, as they do now, which is those whom recieve 15% of the primary vote.

[C_Lawyer09]

31. "Herd Behavior"

How about championing of anti-trust reform, the likes of which hasn't taken place since the turn of the 20th century. I hear nobody Republican or Democrat bringing this up. Could it be that both major parties are beholden to corporate interests?

[No Elephants]

23. Public: "What have you done for us lately?" Within Obama's first month, the Republicans started

yelping about the economy and the deficit, then about Wall Street, as though it were all Obama's fault. They wasted no time and they never let up. Unless you call them on it, they still talk about Obama's having bailed out Wall Street (including some who post here, I might add).

[JonQ]

42. Exactly

when bush was in power he was blamed for the poor economy initially. Now it's obamas turn.

This isn't a trait unique to either party. The party in power will always suffer if the majority of the voters are unhappy. Doesn't matter who, doesn't matter if it's fair or not.

[phasma ex machina]

15. Only fools laugh at unemployment.

"Idle hands are the devil's workshop." The last depression gave us Hitler and World War II.

[Ozymanithrax]

39. Republicans care about power. They know that unhapiness with the economy is the best way..

back in power.

[treestar]

35. Way too soon to say that

Part of it is a cycle anyway and there is only so much the govt. can do about it.

Why put in Repukes who would do nothing at all? That's how McDope and the repukes lost. You're in essence saying we won only because the economy was bad and the voters wanted to punish the repukes for that.

[Ozymanithrax]

40. Becasue people are worried and frightented. They need someone to blame and they will blame the

party in power.

Republicans know that. That is why they fight tooth and nail agaisnt everything that might help the economy. If the economy does not show considerable signs of improvement, at least 3 months, Democrats could well be looking at loosing Congress.

The SEnate is more dificult, but they will loose seats there, too.

[earcandle]

20. This is not nice of the weathly class nor the government that exist by the graces of our tax dollars

to do to us.  If we continue we are really dumb.

[NecklyTyler]

25. K&R

[TwentyFive]

27. Independents will stay with the Democrats in 2010, IF they see light at the end of the tunnel

Most people know severe recessions don't go away overnight.

Things won't be too bad for Democrats in 2010...provided...they see some solid signs of recovery. But, 2012 is another matter.

[Babyserendip]

29. The Unemployed American Worker = and the Vultures Who Fly

...in all this ...i cant help but escape the notion that the American people are truly powerless under the military industrial banking (now TV media) complex exactly as Eisenhower warned might come.

The American people need to revolt...in all its words and meanings....as the power-masters (and yes they are power-masters) are just thriving off the idea of having clashes of civilization, continuing labor arbitrage etc. ....WE bailed out THEIR banks....WE are fighting THEIR profiteering wars.......>WE vs. THEM (literally no more than 1000 people at the top plus 5000 minions).

Obama made a mortal mistake imo in bringing Hillary in (i knew it then and am confirmed now)...as we saw last week...she will do everything in her power to wreck his intended international peace seeking goals....and there is a reason why... In hindsight he woudl have won without Hillary as so many disaffected Rockefeller/anti-religion/anti-war republicans jumped ship.....but he wanted to make "sure" he got in...and for that their was a price...

On the bailout...why didn't Obama hault the bank bail out and instead bail out the American homeowner....the effect would have been to save the banks, save the American people, and give the American consumer new found confidence and equity to keep on buying. When such a dereliction of duty occurs people will try to rationalize away the action...but the fact is that is exactly what happened when there was a much more simpler solution that would have helped all of America and our faith in it....

See billionaire Thomas Petterfy's appeal to the US Government (Obama) to bail out the homeowner...not the banks: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/business/31NOCERAPLAN_Peterffy.html?_r=1

[C_Lawyer09]

30. Devils Advocate

I understand and agree with several points made vis a vis this post, but what about the inflation brought on by printing of more money and the unintended taxes on the poor. e.g. The rich access the money before the inflationary affects take place and the poor have access to the money? Secondly, I hear no mention of the globalization that Clinton championed largely through NAFTA and CAFTA which expediently exported American living wage jobs. Make no mistake, I'm no right wing apologist, but it seems many in this blog conveniently omit contributions to problems that are part of Democratic administrations.

[MarlaM]

33. This is the measure that should always been used

It reflects reality better, as many unemployed are not uncounted.

[treestar]

34. If one in six are unemployed

I'm living in a very lucky place and have a very lucky family.

I think they just want you to fear for your job - not demand raises and the like. This is why they always report the worst news they possibly can.

People on DU hate corporations, but then always believe their spin in the media they own (and want to work for them).

[glitch]

36. Shame about all the small businesses that can't get credit to meet their payroll from bailed banks

who were given their bail outs without qualification, ain't it? :grr:

[showpan]

37. The only way to create more jobs

would be to repeal NAFTA and impose huge tariffs on all non essential goods. This would only hurt for a short period but at least it would give us a new start. Jump start the economy with massive public works projects using american made supplies until manufacturing and agriculture has returned to normal growth rate. Made in USA use to mean quality, our steel was second to none and our drywall never made anyone sick. Our dog food didn't kill our pets and our toys weren't covered in lead. Those corporations made money before NAFTA and survived for many years. After NAFTA, the cost of everything has steadily increased along with lavish CEO's pay and huge corporate profits. They used the export card in order to "level" the playing Field in order to push these greedy corporate trade deals through. Well it turns out, all we exported was our jobs.
Until America wakes up and unites to take back Washington, it will only get worse.
we must hold those traitors accountable for trade deals that even a 6 yr old could have done better at.
The sucking sound is over....along with our prosperity...and our jobs.

[C_Lawyer09]

38. Agree to a degree

A lot of what you say makes sense, but here is an example where the timber industry went awry. We assumed that we'd remain the world dominant exporter because of resource superiority, but we lacked when it came to service. Namely refusing Asian nations when they requested lumber cut to specific specs. We balked and the Canadians and other exporters filled the void immediately. Secondly, and just out of curiousity, would this severely impact the already spiraling national debt?

[UpInArms]

41. related: 27 million Americans without full-time work, real unemployment tops 17.5%

http://www.examiner.com/x-21037-Illinois-Statehouse-Examiner~y2009m11d7-27-million-Americans-without-fulltime-work-real-unemployment-tops-175

Friday's unemployment report offered no comfort to economists, government officials and the 27.4 million Americans now unable to find full-time employment. In recent months unemployment numbers have produced growing economic concerns over the likelihood of an economic recovery that fails to produce job growth; and this month's unemployment report, coupled with recent GDP estimates point support those concerns. Despite billions of dollars in stimulus spending that continues to flow out of Washington, the Department of Labor report pointed to job loss numbers that have failed to improve amid the spending.

The Department of Labor reported a rise in the adjusted non-farm unemployment rate to a new high of 10.2% after the economy shed another 190,000. However, the Department of Labor also reports that the number of unemployed Americans increased by 558,000 last month, representing a sharpest increase in unemployment since this spring. In addition, beyond the adjusted payroll number lies a host of employment numbers including the disturbing reality that 27.4 million Americans are now unable to find full-time employment.

As we have pointed out in previous reports, the adjusted payroll numbers do not include 2 groups of unemployed workers that the DOL refers to as temporary part-time workers and marginally attached workers. The DOL reported that 9.3 million Americans are currently working part-time due to economic conditions, an increase of 100,000 workers during October. This group is comprised of workers who have had their hours cut from full-time status or who have been able to find full-time employment. In addition the DOL reported that the number of marginally attached workers stands at 2.4 million. Such marginally attached workers include individuals who are unemployed but have not sought work over the 4 weeks prior to the survey and includes some 768,000 "discouraged' workers that have simply given up. The number of "discouraged" workers increased by more than 50,000 last month. The addition of such excluded groups caused the real unemployment rate to increase from 17.0% to 17.5%, out-pacing the growth rate within adjusted employment figures.

Inside the Numbers

The DOL report confirms an ongoing pattern that has developed in which the real unemployment rate continues to rise at a faster pace than the adjusted unemployment rate. Such a pattern indicates that not only do more Americans continue to lose jobs, but also that the jobless are remaining unemployed for a longer period of time. The lengthening period of unemployment is reflected by DOL statistics indicating that 35.6% of U.S. jobless have remained unemployed for longer than 6 months. The number of chronically unemployed has consistently increased in the past 6 months. Such a high number of chronically unemployed represents the first time since the 1970's that this condition has existed.

The manufacturing and construction sectors continued to shed more jobs in September demonstrating a eerily consistent pattern of job loss that has persisted throughout the 2nd and 3rd quarter. The continued weakness within manufacturing and construction employment was largely unexpected considering the increase in stimulus funding within the industries.

...more...

:(