NY Times- Broader Measure of U.S. Unemployment Stands at 17.5%

[Orwellian_Ghost]

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.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/business/economy/07econ.html?_r=1

[Hello_Kitty]

1. Interesting how they're using a "broader measure" now.

They never seemed interested in doing that in the past.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

2. US unemployment rate surges to highest level in 26 years

Since the start of the recession, 8.2 million US jobs been destroyed, bringing the number of unemployed people in the country to 15.7 million, a figure significantly larger than the populations of Cuba, Greece, or Sweden. Of this figure, 5.6 million, or 35.6 percent, were unemployed for 27 weeks or more.

The broader unemployment rate, which includes people who have either stopped looking for work or are working part-time involuntarily, rose even more sharply, hitting 17.5 percent. This is its highest rate on record and up 0.5 percentage points from September. The number of people who would like to take full-time jobs but can only find part-time work, or who had their hours cut from full- to part-time, has reached 9.3 million.

Economists responded to the data by revising upward their estimates for unemployment next year, with several predicting a peak of at least 11 percent. This would represent the highest unemployment level since World War II.

The last time unemployment passed 10 percent was during the recession of 1982-1983, when it peaked at 10.8 percent. Labor conditions for workers are, however, worse than they were during that recession. Over the past three decades, there has been a protracted campaign for “labor market flexibility,” which has resulted not only in employers’ ability to lay off workers at will, but also to quickly cut hours and impose speedups.

...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/unem-n07.shtml

[Orwellian_Ghost]

3. Real Unemployment Rate : Closing in on the Great Depression

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HyyDHyAwI6k/SvWO6Q8gHtI/AAAAAAAAG6o/qjKvM-CERB4/s400/depression+unemployment+cartoon.jpg

The sad fact is that the real unemployment rate is now at least 17.5%. That means more than one out of every six workers in this country cannot find a full-time job.

Folks, that's rapidly approaching the unemployment figures from the Great Depression, when the rate of unemployment climbed over 20%. And the government admits that the rate will continue to climb over the next several months (and probably longer). It is within the realm of possibility that we'll reach those Great Depression numbers.

What bothers me is that the government and private economic pundits are currently trying to convince Americans that better times are just around the corner. They tell us the recession is actually over (because one quarter of GDP showed some growth). Then they assure us that unemployment is just a lagging indicator and will turn around in a few months as the economy continues to grow.

I wish I could believe that, but I don't. All of the jobs were not lost due to the poor economy. Some of those jobs were cut so the companies could show a short-term gain and drive up their stocks -- making millions for executives and investors. Many other good-paying jobs have been shipped overseas where the companies can exploit low-wage workers. None of these jobs are coming back, regardless of how much the economy rebounds.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HyyDHyAwI6k/SvWQeyTpQSI/AAAAAAAAG6w/jdwkXoC3dHc/s400/unemployed+free+coffee.JPG

http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/real-unemployment-rate-closing-in-on.html