Here’s the opening paragraph of a new report, “Understanding and Responding to Persistently High Unemployment,” published by the Congressional Budget Office:
The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, making the past three years the longest stretch of high unemployment in this country since the Great Depression. Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the unemployment rate will remain above 8 percent until 2014. The official unemployment rate excludes those individuals who would like to work but have not searched for a job in the past four weeks as well as those who are working part-time but would prefer full-time work; if those people were counted among the unemployed, the unemployment rate in January 2012 would have been about 15 percent. Compounding the problem of high unemployment, the share of unemployed people looking for work for more than six months referred to as the long-term unemployed topped 40 percent in December 2009 for the first time since 1948, when such data began to be collected; it has remained above that level ever since.
Combined with President Obama’s budget released earlier this week — with the continuation of his record-breaking deficits and debt — we’re reminded once again of just how bad the Obama era has been for America.
when someone drives over a cliff, don't blame the rescue workers for his misery, and if you interfere with their efforts do not complain if the injured doesn't get better quickly
"We" may be reminded of it, but for some reason the American people still seem to like this guy and are willing to vote him 4 more years. At some point "we" have to admit that the voting majority in this country has just changed, there are more "takers" than "makers" or something along those lines. I guess I would have been a pessimist in the recent Commentary symposium.
Coz he buys their votes with trinkets and marginal increases to entitlements floated on Chinese loans and monetized manna from nowhere. Eventually, yes, a coalesced and immovable majority is implicated in a breads and circuses decadence. Until the more robust and less lapsarian-inclined barbarians show up at the gates.
I believe the unemployment situation in The US, is much much worse than it is usually portrayed in the media. I’m one of the lucky ones because I fought and won, repeatedly. I will explain.
Of little interest it seems, is differentiating jobs as to their quality,professional permanant vs backbreaking temporary; requires a degree or not. Where may I ask are the user friendly statistics? Do Americans buy the idea that a job is simply a job. If that is the case, perhaps now is the time for Obama to funnel incentives to Home Depot and Staples to create hundreds of thousands of temporary jobs before the election. Also, no user friendly statistics paint a picture of the scope of jobs held in the US by foreign nationals, many with green cards or soon to be but never quite are expired green cards and those whose green cards have expired or those who never had one to begin with. From an abundance of personal experience, unfortunately, both in the private and public sector, in jobs that require a college degree or a professional license; the large employers preferred, over the last 25 years to hire foreign nationals and reluctantly bring in few token Americans, who are treated like dirt. Interesting, this is never discussed in public, but we all know it is true. I actually had a co-worker, a Korean woman ask me point blank out of the blue, in a matter of fact tone, whether I would engage her in a sham marriage in order for her to remain in The US and keep her 80K/year professional job. Some countries, while exporting products to The US, taking advantage of The Free Trade Agreements Ross Perot warned us against, at the same time, train their citizens to take high paying jobs in The United States. For example, The Phillipines turns out nurses like sausages. They are flown out here with the promise of jobs. I believe they pay over time for the service provided. They are helped with housing and counseled as to how to adapt to the workplace including accepting discipline from their co-workers/handlers in lieu of managment, who appreciates not having to do a thing. The same mafia protects them if they feel threatened, especially by a competent American. That American is cut down to size, aren’t you.
They are also taught how to abuse American workers through fear threat and intimidation. Management loves them,,,they are great for productivity goals,however bogus they may be.
We are very much still in denial….AND…the damage appears to be done. Romney will never address this, never, he is one of them. Santorum may have the guts, I do not know.
I think I read where the French writer Alexis de Tocqueville predicted that democracies perish because too many people figure out that they can vote themselves financial benefits taken by the govt. from productive members of society. This seems to be happening. This may sound harsh but in order to sustain liberty; maybe only people who are working and paying taxes should be allowed to vote. If you lose your job you cannot vote; when you find a job and start working again your voting rights are restored. I can clearly see that America is heading to where Greece is now. Except like Mark Steyn says, it is probably going to be a lot more calamitous.
Peter, your heart is in the right place. Obama has done everything in his capacity to curtail the economy, and its silver lining could only be attributed to the market cycles. Simultaneously, the CBO doesn't know what it's talking about, and your points about the economy aren't accurate. n nThe lower unemployment number is a lagging indicator. but the family employment number which also decreased is the inverse, and consequently reliable. I'm afraid that as it stands, before Europe succumbs to bankruptcy or tsuris in Iran and the Middle East increases the price at the pump, Obama has reason to brag things are getting better (though correlating it to his policy is risible). n nFurthermore, the point you once made in an article about real unemployment in the double digits is specious. It is facile to search for a dark nimbus cloud (you could only point out that things would be better with sensible fiscal policy). The great depression had a similar real unemployment rate of 20+%, which is a number infrequently quoted.
…. (unemployment) quickly ascended to 10.1%, stands at 8.3% today …. n nOnly because the legions of "Democratic" potty activists that own operate and control the feral gummint's machinery's every power lever have so manipulated the data as to make it appear so. n nPut back into the number of unemployed the 1.2 million jobless taken out of the latest calculation for no better reason than they didn't put in a claim during the past four weeks and today's hard rate is 11.5% unemployed. n nPut back in those in "temp" jobs and partially "employed" and the rate shoots to nearly 20%.