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AMERICAblog – Corporate America lowers the unemployment rate … in Asia
From AMERICAblog:
Corporate America lowers the unemployment rate … in Asia
by Gaius Publius on 12/30/2010 02:49:00 PM
It’s becoming more and more obvious, the disconnect; as Robert Reich points out below, unemployment stays high as corporate profits soar. Not that the disconnect wasn’t always present (“always” means post-Reagan, the outer limit of anyone’s memory these days). But it’s getting harder to hide, and they’re not taking much pains to keep it under wraps.
This Countdown segment does a nice job of making the disconnect plain. Corporate America has created 1.4 million jobs abroad — enough to reduce American unemployment nearly 1% if created here. Can’t get much more obvious.
Wall Street continues to chug along and bring in more record breaking profit
Susie Madrak – All Bets Are Off. Without A Real Unemployment Benefits Extension, This Tax Cut ‘Compromise’ Isn’t Worth Crap.
From Crooks and Liars:
Anthony Weiner Shoots Down Megyn Kelly’s Assertion That the Estate Tax is Double Taxation
C&L Opening Bell: Special No-One-Cares-About-the-Deficit Edition!
C&L’s Late Nite Music Club With John Lennon
Tucker Carlson, Class(less) Act
House Passes DREAM Act 216-198
Rachel’s reverse Gandhi metaphor
Local Chambers of Commerce Are Unhappy With US Chamber of Commerce’s Right Wing Political Ads
By Susie Madrak
Posted: 09 Dec 2010 07:00 AM PST
(H/T to maymay)
In the words of Emily Litella, “Never mind.”
Never mind that I thought the rest of the tax cut deal was worth swallowing, because that was when I thought there were 13 months’ additional unemployment benefits in the picture. There aren’t. It only maintains the status quo.
According to Calculated Risk, this is just the same kind of “bridge” legislation we’ve seen before, in which people who were eligible for the next level of extensions (but couldn’t get them because they expired) are now eligible to move on to the next extension level.
It’s not another tier. There are no new benefits. You still can’t collect any more than 99 weeks. All it does is maintain the same system that was already in place.
This deal isn’t worth a bucket of warm spit, as my mother used to say.
Arthur Delaney at Huffington Post:
The programs provide up to 73 weeks of federally-funded benefits for workers who exhaust 26 weeks of state benefits. The average weekly benefit is about $300, and the total cost of a yearlong reauthorization is roughly $60 billion. Republicans and conservative Democrats ostensibly concerned about the deficit impact of the benefits have blocked several attempts to renew them in the past couple weeks, but they’ve signaled they will relent if the benefits are attached to the even-costlier tax cuts for the rich.
Some 800,000 laid off workers have already received cutoff notices, and another 1.2 million will stop receiving benefits by the end of the month unless Congress reauthorizes the recently-lapsed programs..
In other words, please curl up in your cardboard box and die. We wouldn’t want to upset the bond market, would we?
It’s simply amazing that the White House is allowing the press (and the voters) to think otherwise. I mean, does Obama think they won’t notice when their checks are shut off?
This is the same trick they pulled back in March. The 99ers weren’t able to rally the troops because the media (and the general public) thought Congress had approved additional aid, when all they did was fund the existing extensions.
Yes, it preserves the existing benefits. Well, why the hell shouldn’t they? Obama expects applause for this? In the name of common decency, this shouldn’t even be an issue. And in exchange for this emergency support, basic humane aid, we’re supposed to give away the store so that millionaires and billionaires can make even more money?
All this money for war, for banks, for big business, and nothing for the people getting buried by the economic fallout.
Bah, humbug.
Mark Thoma – Unemployment and Food Stamps
From the Economist’s View:
Two statistics from the Wall Street Journal. First, 6 million people were unable to find work last year.
Nearly 6 million Americans looked for work but weren’t able to find employment at all last year,… an increase of 2.7 million from a year earlier. …
That makes it thard to swallow stories where the high unemployment rate is caused by an unwillingness to work due to government programs such as unemployment compensation.
More people tapped food stamps to pay for groceries in September as the recession and lackluster recovery have prompted more Americans to turn to government safety net programs to make ends meet.
Some 42.9 million people collected food stamps last month, up 1.2% from the prior month and 16.2% higher than the same time a year ago…
Nationwide 14% of the population relied on food stamps as of September…
That means the presently about one out of every seven people relies on food stamps.
Inteldaily – Jobless Recovery? 25 Unemployment Statistics That Are Almost Too Depressing To Read
From Inteldaily:
Jobless Recovery? 25 Unemployment Statistics That Are Almost Too Depressing To Read
By Michael T. Snyder
[…]
The following are 25 unemployment statistics that are almost too depressing to read….
#1 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate for November was 9.8 percent. This was up from 9.6 percent in October, and it continues a trend of depressingly high unemployment rates. The official unemployment number has been at 9.5 percent or higher for well over a year at this point.
#2 In November 2006, the “official” U.S. unemployment rate was just 4.5 percent.
#3 Most economists had been expecting the U.S. economy to add about 150,000 jobs in November. Instead, it only added 39,000.
#4 In the United States today, there are over 15 million people who are “officially” considered to be unemployed for statistical purposes. But everyone knows that the “real” number is even much larger than that.
#5 As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer.
#6 The number of “persons not in the labor force” in the United States recently set another new all-time record.
#7 It now takes the average unemployed American over 33 weeks to find a job.
#8 When you throw in “discouraged workers” and “underemployed workers”, the “real” unemployment rate in the state of California is actually about 22 percent.
#9 In America today there are not nearly enough jobs for everyone. In fact, there are now approximately 5 unemployed Americans for every single job opening.
#10 According to The New York Times, Americans that have been unemployed for five weeks or less are three times more likely to find a new job in the coming month than Americans that have been unemployed for over a year.
#11 The U.S. economy would need to create 235,120 new jobs a month to get the unemployment rate down to pre-recession levels by 2016. Does anyone think that there is even a prayer that is going to happen?
#12 There are 9 million Americans that are working part-time for “economic reasons”. In other words, those Americans would gladly take full-time jobs if they could get them, but all they have been able to find is part-time work.
#13 In 2009, total wages, median wages, and average wages all declined in the United States.
#14 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time that less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#15 The United States has lost at least 7.5 million jobs since the recession began.
#16 Today, only about 40 percent of Ford Motor Company’s 178,000 workers are employed in North America, and a big percentage of those jobs are in Canada and Mexico.
#17 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#18 Earlier this year, one poll found that 28% of all American households had at least one member that was looking for a full-time job.
#19 In the United States today, over 18,000 parking lot attendants have college degrees.
#20 The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#21 As the employment situation continues to stagnate, millions of American families have decided to cut back on things such as insurance coverage. For example, the percentage of American households that have life insurance coverage is at its lowest level in 50 years.
#22 Unless Congress acts, and there is no indication that is going to happen, approximately 2 million Americans will stop receiving unemployment checks over the next couple of months.
#23 A poll that was released by the Pew Research Center back in June discovered that an astounding 55 percent of the U.S. labor force has experienced either unemployment, a pay decrease, a reduction in hours or an involuntary move to part-time work since the economic downturn began.
#24 According to Richard McCormack, the United States has lost over 42,000 factories (and counting) since 2001.
#25 In the United States today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees.
Economist’s View – Median Duration of Unemployment
From the Economist’s View:
Median Duration of Unemployment
Posted by Mark Thoma on Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Young Turks – The Unemployment Disaster Continues
Mike Konczal – Today’s Jobs Numbers: Proof Against Structural Unemployment
From New Deal 2.0:
Today’s Jobs Numbers: Proof Against Structural Unemployment
Friday, 12/3/2010 – 5:44 pm by Mike Konczal
Unemployment numbers for women and the college educated speak to a different kind of problem.
AMERICAblog – GOP brings the Christmas spirit – 2 million Americans lose unemployment benefits
From AMERICAblog:
GOP brings the Christmas spirit – 2 million Americans lose unemployment benefits
by Chris in Paris on 12/01/2010 09:09:00 AM
Thankfully Obama is ready to negotiate with them on tax cuts for the richest Americans. Surely caving in this time will work, right? Washington is probably upset that Wall Street bonuses will probably be down this year and who can really live on $400,000 – $500,000 per year? (An average range, of course, but how can one live on such chump change?) If Wall Street is prepared to cut back, everyone else should be ready to cut back, right? Just imagine how rough it’s going to be for Wall Street traders to provide proper holiday gifts with so little? At least we know that we’re all in this together and our brave leaders in Washington understand the situation.
The Progress Report – Unemployed and Unnoticed
From The Progress Report:
Today, Congress sets a new record; in the last 40 years, it has never allowed extended unemployment benefits to expire when the unemployment rate was above 7.2 percent. But today, in an economy that faces a 9.6 percent unemployment rate, Congress will let the benefits expire and force 2.5 million Americans to lose their benefits in the midst of the holiday season. As the New York Times notes, such a “lack of regard for working Americans is shocking,” especially when juxtaposed with decades of bipartisan support for similar measures. But, in their pitch to obstruct any legislative progress, the Republicans of the 111th Congress have waged a two-year, all-out war against extending benefits, regardless of who it may hurt. The GOP’s chief defense of its position is the $12.5 billion cost of a three-month extension, or $60 billion for a full year. Such feigned concern for the deficit is made all the more deceptive when considering the same Republicans are simultaneously demanding that Congress extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. And, while these tax cuts for the rich provide very little economic stimulus, the unemployment benefits they obstruct have provided a vital economic boost to struggling families and businesses. By prioritizing the pocketbooks of the privileged over the needs of the American worker, Republicans are turning their back on their two alleged priorities: the American people and the economy.
Firedoglake – Corporations Show Largest Profits in History Amidst Jobs Crisis
From Firedoglake:
Corporations Show Largest Profits in History Amidst Jobs Crisis
By: David Dayen Tuesday November 23, 2010 10:13 am
According to revised statistics, the US economy grew at a faster rate than first expected, up to 2.5%. Earlier growth in Q3 2010 was estimated at 2%. But the entire problem with looking at this topline number is reflected in these three paragraphs:…
Mark Thoma – Will the US Follow Japan?
From Economist’s View:
Via Tom Keene, here’s a chart showing “deflation adjusted” real wages for Japan. The US has followed Japan in other ways, will real wages in the US do the same?:
This is a killer chart of Chairman Bernanke’s worst nightmare. Well, at least one of them, vintage 2003. This is deflation-adjusted real wages for Japan. … The real Japanese wage has tanked 6.5% or so in a decade-plus.Unless labor markets pick up soon, and most forecasts are for just the opposite — a very slow recovery for employment — this is something to worry about. [Also posted at MoneyWatch.]
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities – Off the Charts
From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
This week on Off the Charts, we focused on the federal budget, state budgets, unemployment, food assistance, and Social Security.
- On the federal budget, we featured Bob Greenstein’s recent commentary on reducing the deficit, as seen in a New York Times “Room for Debate.” Jim Horney answered questions about key issues facing Congress during the lame duck session, and also looked at the budget plan from the co-chairs of the President’s fiscal commission. In addition, we showed how extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would affect the national debt. And, Paul Van de Water noted that the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform’s proposal places too much blame for the nation’s fiscal problems on the budget process.
- On state budgets, Nicholas Johnson explained why the President’s proposed tax break for business investment would be expensive for states, and Bob Tannenwald discussed why states pay a high price in allocating film tax credits yet receive little in return.
- On unemployment, Chad Stone discussed why demands that Congress offset the cost of renewing federal emergency unemployment insurance benefits are hypocritical or counterproductive. Chad also pointed out that unemployment benefits are important for middle-class families as well as those near the poverty line.
- On food assistance, Dottie Rosenbaum highlighted new data showing that food stamps helped keep hunger at bay despite the recession.
- On Social Security, Kathy Ruffing demonstrated that so-called “progressive price indexing” would not be the best way to fix Social Security’s shortfall.
In other news, the Center released a podcast on key congressional issues in the lame duck session, reports on the Bowles-Simpson and Peterson-Pew debt reduction proposals as well as on state film subsidies and progressive price indexing, and held a media briefing on state film tax credits.
View Off the Charts Blog:
http://www.offthechartsblog.org/
AFL-CIO Now Blog – More Jobs Lost in Sept., as Corporations Hoard Cash, Refuse to Hire
From AFL-CIO Now Blog:
More Jobs Lost in Sept., as Corporations Hoard Cash, Refuse to Hire
by Tula Connell, Oct 8, 2010
Some 95,000 jobs were lost in September, fueled by a loss of government employment, which declined by 159,000 jobs and minimal hiring in the private sector, which added 64,000 jobs. The new jobs data released by the Labor Department today also show the nation’s September’s unemployment rate remained at unchanged from August at 9.6 percent. Public-sector job losses include 83,000 lost at the state and local level, of which 58,000 were in education.
The 64,000 new jobs is about half of what is required to absorb new labor force entrants. To lower the unemployment rate to 6 percent by 2013, the economy needs to add 350,000 jobs a month.
The number of workers who are underemployed, which includes those who are too discouraged to look for work or are working part-time out of economic necessity, worsened to 17.1 percent from 16.7 percent in August. More than 26 million U.S. workers are without jobs or full-time work.
Shadow Government Statistics
IMF fears ‘social explosion’ from world jobs crisis
From the telegraph.co.uk:
IMF fears ‘social explosion’ from world jobs crisis
America and Europe face the worst jobs crisis since the 1930s and risk “an explosion of social unrest” unless they tread carefully, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
Shadow Government Statistics
Inflation, Money Supply, GDP, Unemployment and the Dollar – Alternate Data Series
Alternate Unemployment Charts
The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers.
The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline number. The U-6 unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) broadest unemployment measure, including short-term discouraged and other marginally-attached workers as well as those forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment.
No. 321: August Employment and Unemployment September 3rd, 2010
August Unemployment: U.3 = 9.6%, U.6 = 16.7%, SGS = 22.0%
August Payrolls Fall 54,000, Gain 60,000 Ex-Census Workers
Better-Than-Expected Payroll Changes Were Not Statistically Meaningful
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