Sunday, September 2, 2012

Happy Labor Day?

Graphic Via:  AAEC

Whether you are a laid off employee looking for a new job, one of the countless college graduates looking for work or an entrepreneur whose business has suffered (and maybe died) during the past several years, this Labor Day probably won't be one of your happier ones.  Let's hope in the months ahead (and maybe with a change in the White House) your job and/or business prospects will start looking up.

For now though, let's take a look at the latest unemployment statistics.  

The chart below lists the unemployment rates by country.  I feel so much better that at least France has a higher unemployment rate than we do.



The Bureau of Labor Statistics won't have the August 2012 Unemployment Report out until September 7, 2012, so I had to settle for July's report.  I hope Hispanics and Blacks realize that, other than teenagers, they had the highest unemployment rates in the country in July.  It will be interesting to see if these stats have an effect on President Obama clinching their votes in November.


THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION —JULY 2012

Household Survey Data 
Both the number of unemployed persons (12.8 million) and the unemployment rate (8.3 percent) were essentially unchanged in July. Both measures have shown little movement thus far in 2012.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Hispanics (10.3 percent) edged down in July, while the rates for adult men (7.7 percent), adult women (7.5 percent), teenagers (23.8 percent)whites (7.4 percent), and blacks (14.1 percent) showed little or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.2 percent in July (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. 
In July, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was little changed at 5.2 million. These individuals accounted for 40.7 percent of the unemployed. 
Both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 63.7 percent, and the employment-population
ratio, at 58.4 percent, changed little in July.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as
involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged at 8.2 million in July. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.
In July, 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down from 2.8 million a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals 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. 
Among the marginally attached, there were 852,000 discouraged workers in July, a decline of 267,000 from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them.
The remaining 1.7 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in July had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.  Read more...
My prayers are with unemployed Americans who are striving to support their families while searching for work.  Will a new president in the White House make a change for the better?  I can't prove that will be the case, but I think we should give it a try and hope for the best.  What we know for sure is, that if we keep the guy we have now, we have no "hope" for "change".

Be safe and enjoy the Labor Day Holiday.  

5 comments:

  1. Obama is the President for the unemployed - the government dependency president. The unemployment rate is extremely sad for our country and the citizens who are unemployed or underemployed. May more people vote for prosperity and liberty this time around, and vote for Romney.

    Happy Labor Day, TCL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Dems/Progs need to make people dependent on the government in order to secure their votes. They have been doing a good job so far. 4 more years of this and America might as well be part of Europe.
      Enjoy the holiday.

      Delete
  2. "4 more years of this and America" will be worse off than Europe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Based on 1992 measurement criteria that clinton changed to make himself look much better in 1993, the rate is 23%. Everyone probably knows the highest during the great depression was 25%. Anyway, I wonder if france uses the same measurement criteria. ? just a little side note.

    ReplyDelete

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