Real U.S. Unemployment Is 16.8%

[amborin]

A Deceptive Job Recovery -- Real Unemployment at 16.8%

WASHINGTON - March 5 - The real unemployment rate released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 16.8%, is much worse than the official 9.7% rate reported for February. The long-sought improvement in the labor market is imperceptible at this time as more than 36,000 new jobless claims were filed.

The official unemployment rate only accounts for people who are out of work and actively seeking fulltime employment. The real rate, which takes into account part-time workers desiring full-time employment and discouraged job seekers, is a more accurate indicator of the labor market. The new data shows that 8,791 Americans were working part-time last month because they were unable to find full-time jobs and another 2,527 had given up looking for work. In addition, 5.2% of the employed work more than one job in order to support themselves and their families.

"With more than 14 million workers seeking employment, the need for federal investment in job creation is as strong as ever." said Michael J. Wilson, National Director of Americans for Democratic Action. "Congress must focus on the twin challenges of ensuring an adequate safety net for these families and rebuilding the American economy."

"While the number of jobless persons rose slightly last month, the average length of unemployment declined from a record 30.2 weeks in January to 29.7 weeks in February, which was still the second-highest figure on record." said Paul Manchester, ADA's Economic Advisor. "The decrease in the average duration of unemployment offset the increase in the number of unemployed. The Manchester Index therefore declined from 448.1 million total weeks of joblessness in January to 441.7 million in February. However, this remains the third highest level for the Manchester Index on record."

snip

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/03/05-11

[tridim]

1. Real unemployment has been at those levels since at least 1999.

Yes it's a big problem, but it didn't just start 12 months ago.

[FarCenter]

4. In 1999 the U6 unemployment was around 7 %

It went up to about 12% after the dot com bust, and then back down to around 8% by the end of the housing bubble.

[AllentownJake]

8. My God the stupid it burns so hot nt.

[girl gone mad]

12. Pathetic attempt at historical revisionism.

You are either one extremely out of touch individual or one very poor propagandist.

[MadBadger]

2. Wasnt real unemployment much higher than that a few months ago?

[amborin]

6. yes, when those who've stopped looking and the part-timers wanting full time are counted, it's 25%

[jtuck004]

3. Broken down by income people are even more broken down

If your income is near 12,000 a year, unemployment is about 30%

If your income is over $150,000 a year, unemployment is about 3%

http://www.clms.neu.edu/publication/documents/Labor_Underutilization_Problems_of_U.pdf

So we close university doors and increase tuition, watch renters and people with less income be thrown onto the street, and then run around crowing about how much better things will be when we add more bills on these people via mandatory health insurance, with no mechanism to do anything but increase costs (perhaps a doctor can prescribe a new home or a meal, eh?). We are gonna get exactly what we deserve.

[RKP5637]

5. And there are still idiots out there that think this is the best place in the

world for everyone.

[midnight]

7. Can you imagine mandating the poor to buy insurance when they can barely

eat?

[TheWatcher]

9. "Pony, Chess, Unicorn, Flawed Statistics, You Want Obama To Fail, It Doesn't Exist......"

"Recovery, The Recession Is Over, Debbie Downer, Things Are Slowly Improving, Political Fantasyland, Negative Nancy, Bernanke and Geithner Saved The Planet, I'm Sure President Palin Would Be Pleased To Hear You Say That."

There, now The Gatekeepers can move along to another thread, and discussion regarding REALITY can take place in this one.

[leftstreet]

10. K&R

[maryf]

11. k&r nt