The Department of Labor releases the unemployment figures tomorrow morning. But here is a noteworthy economic finding. Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased to 9.1 percent in February from 8.6 percent in January. The 0.5-percentage-point increase in February compared with January is the largest such month-to-month change Gallup has recorded in its not-seasonally adjusted measure since December 2010.
There’s more. In addition to the 9.1 percent of workers who are unemployed, 10.0 percent are working part time but want full-time work. (This percentage is higher than the 9.6 percent of February 2011.) As a result, in February Gallup’s underemployment measure, which combines the percentage of workers who are unemployed and the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work, increased to 19.1 — or almost one in five people.
Gallup concludes, “Regardless of what the government reports, Gallup’s unemployment and underemployment measures show a substantial deterioration since mid-January.”
The president’s hopes for re-election hinge on the economy getting significantly stronger, not weaker, between now and November. We’ll see what tomorrow’s Bureau of Labor Statistics job report brings. But based on Gallup’s findings, David Axelrod might want to keep the corks in the champagne bottle.
Hey, you only think you're not working! Who do you believe, President Obama or your lying eyes?
Big fallacy. n nUnemployment is only one indicator. in fact, business loves unemployment because it keeps payrolls down. Watch earnings continue to grow. Employment is a trailing indicator. n nAnyway, i don't care what Gallup says or about Wehner's wishful thinking, in my area, hit hard by the recession, mid-managers, the first to get laid off, are starting to be rehired for the first time since 2008.
I am very fortunate, with a very good job, but; I see certain trends which makes me disbelieve any assertions that our economy is “coming back”.
Corporate interests have done a very effective job of wrecking the cohesiveness in The American society. One can observe the export of jobs from The United States in terms of their gross numbers, but that would only be scratching the surface. Statistics could give a a much clearer picture in real time if it factored in job quality. I am sorry, 10,000 jobs created by the likes of Staples, Walmart, Costco, Bed,Bath and Beyond, Target etc. can not compensate for 10,000 highly skilled/educated accounting and engineering etc. jobs lost to asia. Steve Jobs told Obama, “…Those jobs are gone for good.”
Unfortunately, the American people have been brainwashed for one, to believe they are impotent. Two, evil corporate interests engineered the flooding of American cities with millions upon millions of foreign nationals who will do the right thing and treat American workers exactly the way management wants them to be treated. Like dung. That is why for example you have workplaces in The USA today with thousands of employees consisting of 85% foreign nationals from The Phillipines. These are not minimum wage jobs. The average wage can be $75,000/ year and rise as high as 250,000. They easily are promoted to managerial ranks where they practice favoratism, nepotism and discrimination against Americans, by use of fear, threat and intimidation.
One has to have guts to stand up to the abuse, because the state and federal governments will never rule in favor of the American claimant. It will always be…there was insufficient evidence to prove discrimination, so therefore the claimant can have a right to sue letter, good luck. If the claimant has 100 k to pay an attorney that is a good start. And the newcomers are gluttons for all of the vice traps the predatory corporations have in mind for them, buy a jaguar, why don’t you. Get in debt.
All of the hard working Americans from the second world war generation, those who survive today, can barely get 1% interest on their hard earned savings so that so and so and their 100 cousins can qualify for low interest loans on their very own jaguars. HOW REPUGNANT.