Posted on 09/05/2008 3:59:31 PM PDT by John Jorsett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A surprising jump in the U.S. unemployment rate last month may partly reflect temporary emergency aid that encouraged more people to count themselves as unemployed, but this ought to fade when the program ends.
The jobless rate surged to 6.1 percent in August from 5.7 percent the month before, the Labor Department said on Friday, underlining the weak state of the economy and suggesting a recession may be unavoidable.
But a chunk of this deterioration stemmed from a 250,000 increase in the civilian labor force that some economists said looked suspicious. Employment fell by 342,000 people and together, this pushed unemployment up by 592,000 last month.
"People reclassified themselves as a result of moving onto the job rolls for the supplemental program," said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson IPAC in Jersey City, New Jersey.
He estimated that without the program, which extended the duration of jobless benefits to 26 weeks from 13 weeks, unemployment would have increased to just 5.8 percent. Analysts polled by Reuters before Friday's monthly payroll report had expected it would remain unchanged.
To count as unemployed, respondents to a government survey of households who are out of work must say they have actively looked for work in the last four weeks.
People who may have been out of work for a while, but got discouraged in their job search and stopped looking, are not counted as part of the official labor force.
The number of these 'marginally attached' workers fell 200,000 last month.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Of course, the fact that the federally mandated new MINIMUM WAGE recently kicked in has nothing whatever to do with the jobless numbers. /s
Which means that 94 or 95 percent of America is working!
What’s that old saying about liars and figures????
I think it’s all of the above, lead by the increased fuel costs. Tourism has been near non-existent this summer in Florida. The cost of everything is up.
Add to the fuel cost problem, the minimum wage increase, the benefit increase, the auto sector layoffs, it’s a spiral down.
First and foremost we have to get fuel costs down, quick.
and of course the 17 week extension of unemployment benefits really motivates jobseekers
Think we’ll hear this on CNN?
“...but this ought to fade when the program ends.”
When is that? Sometime after the election?
Does anyone know what changes they made to the unemployment program? I haven’t tapped it in decades.
Taxpayer funded extra hand out for the drones and the 94% employed are some of the facts I used to put down some local druids yesterday when a local paper posted the unemployable numbers. It seemed to end the comments then but I haven’t followed up today. I have only been attending the EIB school of learning for 19 years...
(New York) Times to Announce Section Consolidation (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
09/05/2008 Media Mob has learned that The New York Times will make an announcement later today that it plans to cut the number of sections it has in the paper during some days of the week
Fire Sale At Orlando Sentinel (R.I.P. Dinosaur Media)
09/05/2008 Staff cuts, even among the most influential writers, are one indication of the trouble the Sentinel is facing.
Houston Chronicle to cut staff (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
09/05/2008 Houston Chronicle to cut staff Posted By: Jim Romenesko Memo to Houston Chronicle staffers
Dallas Morning News owner to cut dozens of jobs (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
09/05/2008 Dallas-based newspaper company A.H. Belo Corporation, which owns The Dallas Morning News, will cut more than 80 employees in addition to the 413 who will leave through a recent voluntary severance offer,
NYT Co. Newsroom Merge in Florida Leads to Staff Cuts (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
09/04/2008 NEW YORK The Gainesville Sun and Ocala Star-Banner, two New York Times Co. newspapers in Florida that announced last month that they will share resources, will also be shedding some staffers. The Gainesville Sun reports that 22 news positions will be eliminated, and as many as 15 Ocala news staffers will help staff a joint news and copy desk operation in Gainesville.
(Charlotte) Observer cutting 9 percent of workforce (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
09/03/2008 For the third time in five months, the Charlotte Observer, amid a slumping economy and changing media landscape, is cutting jobs through voluntary buyouts – and layoffs, if necessary. Publisher Ann Caulkins said the Carolinas' largest newspaper aims to eliminate more than 9 percent of its workforce, roughly 75 positions, with a nearly companywide buyout offer. The reductions are to be completed Oct. 3. “The economy is really, really tough,” Caulkins told the newsroom this morning. In June, the paper announced plans to eliminate 123 positions, about 11 percent of its workforce, as part of sweeping cuts across its parent...
(Raleigh) N&O offers buyouts to 320 employees (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
09/03/2008 RALEIGH - The News & Observer this morning offered voluntary buyouts to about 320 employees -- including all full-timers in the newsroom --
Journalists of Color Hit in Tribune Layoffs (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
08/18/2008 The Chicago Tribune laid off more than 40 newsroom employees on Friday, including a disproportionate number of journalists of color, according to newsroom employees there. "Coupled with last week's voluntary exit of more than 30 journalists," the additional cutback "means the paper has cut 80 people from its editorial staff as part of cost-cutting campaign at all of parent Tribune Co.'s newspapers,"
Chicago Tribune newsroom departures (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
08/15/2008 : Today's Chicago Tribune newsroom staff departures To the staff: Today is a difficult day in the Chicago Tribune newsroom as we are completing the second part of our reduction in force. Colleagues who are leaving today gave many years of service to this newspaper and forged lasting friendships and associations here. Endings are never easy.
Gannett said laying off 600 newspaper employees (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
08/14/2008 The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., is among the first newspapers reporting layoffs on Thursday. Earlier: A Maryland publisher told employees late Wednesday afternoon that Gannett is eliminating 1,000 newspaper jobs, or about 3% of the troubled newspaper division's workforce -- and that about 600 employees are being laid off, a Gannett Blog reader says.
If you pay people to be unemployed, then they will be unemployed.
The unemployment rate only measures people who’ve been unemployed for less that 26 weeks, if you’ve been out of work longer than 26 weeks, they don’t count you.
No there is what’s called a participation rate - and that’s around 66%.
The unemployment rate doesn’t include the underemployed or the people who work part-time and want to work full time.
http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool=latest_numbers&series_id=LNS11300000
Mmmmmm, OK - I can see that ... people would have to register continually if they’re out of work and want to be counted among the unemployed ...
Hm let’s see...if adding extra temporary aid encouraged more people to sit at home collecting checks recently, do you think maybe the massive amounts of permanent, lifelong “aid” might be encouraging people to sit at home collecting checks permanently?
Just like with anything else, stop subsidizing it and people will face its true costs and find it less attractive.
Energy drives capitalism, and most energy comes from fossil fuels. It didn’t have to be that way, nuclear power is far better for electricity generation, but liberals have blocked nuclear development every way they could.
I received a notice back in July that I was eligible for an additional 13 wks based on having lost my job over 2 years ago. Since then I went back to school and had hopes of entering into a new career only to have job prospects start drying up right as I was graduating.
I worked a 7 wk temporary job, and even though it wasn't 40 hrs a week, I refrained from filing, but now that it's ending I broke down and filed this week.
Good news is I received two calls for interviews just today, so maybe I won't have to file after all.
Have you ever been in the situation where you can’t find a good job? It’s not like unemployment checks are substitutes for the jobs that were lost.
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