More job searchers just quit looking

USA TODAY ^ | 4/7/2003 | Barbara Hagenbaugh

[maxwell]

I can't "call it quits". I have a house note to pay!

Yep-- school loans and credit cards for me... Sorta like to get 'em paid off before I retire, or go out in a blaze o' glory on a Harley...

[Revolting cat!]

Someone once posted an official gubmint explanation of how the unemployment stats are compiled. Guess what? It's all Alice in the Wonderland stuff. The sincere beyond belief explanation had it that counting all unemployed would be physically impossible, so the gubmint samples the populace every week, by phone, or who knows how, but in the end, unless you are a staunch believer in the notion that a 1000 household sample can have any relationship to reality, the unemployment figures you see in the papers are total fantasy!

[gcruse]

As more labor is exported to china...

I spent a career in professional and
amateur photofinishing.  This area is
not affected by exports.  Sorry,
but there are more problems than free
trade at work here.

[annyokie]

No lie. Many of us cannot qualify for an interview. That college thang is a problem.

It's not that we don't want to work.

[FreedomCalls]

There is nothing out there.

Nonsense.

There are over 54,000 jobs listed here alone. Most of them are IT related.

There are plenty of good jobs listed here as well.

< /sarcasm >

[AntiGuv]

You are absolutely spot on with your comments. I tried to insinuate the same with my citation of the Household Survey. Glad someone picked up on that!

[gcruse]

Well, around Amarillo, health care professionals can just about write their own tickets. And thanks to the administration's billions in agriwelfare, that area is holding up pretty good.
Education and law enforcement seem to always have want ads, too.

[annyokie]

True! Full-time students are considered Full-Time employees.

[AD from SpringBay]

...construction work and what-I'm-qualified-to-do ain't even in the same coordinate system...

Well la tee da. Let me put it this way, everybody gets hungry.

[matthew_the_brain]

The world owes no one a living...if the industry of field you specialize in is depressed, move on to a greener pasture......this is nothing but whiners whining to whiners.

[jrushing]

"Gave up on finding work"? Don't feel bad. As more labor is exported to china, as more jobs are exported to India, as more companies move out of the country, you will have more and more company.

You are wrong, We have the greatest economy & country in the World. We may have hard times but not like the 3rd world countries. Come on guys, This is America!. You have to adapt, go to school, learn new jobs, create new businesses. This is the greatest country in the World. We are the one's who make it great. We drive the World's economy. If we aren't working, the poor guys in china & India don't stand a chance. We keep them fed. They will starve without us. Stand up!! Look up!! We are not lost. We are A-M-E-R-I-C-A!!

[spodefly]

If they can 'just quit looking', they must not have needed a job in the first place. If I didn't have a job (and subsequently quit looking for one) after about 4 months I would be living in a box under a bridge.

[StolarStorm]

One word: H1-B. A lot of these people would be working if the government didn't flood the market with slave labor from India. Thankfully, I'm still employed... but I feel for those out there whose jobs have been taken by anti-American slaves.

[arasina]

Don't I know it too! Try being a 51-year-old female who was in middle management and looking for a job. "Overqualified" "You won't stay long at this rate of pay" "Do you speak Spanish?" I've been selling on eBay to keep my standard of living and that's terribly slow too.

Yes, I accepted unemployment checks. First time in my life I've ever "taken" from the government except for an FHA loan on a house which was later converted to a conventional loan. I watched my investments dwindle until I put a hold on them. It's hard to find even temporary work these days, so now I'm dipping into my savings to pay the bills and not spending on anything except necessities.

I'm hopeful that when the war is truly over that things will get better. And I hope President Bush is as good about reducing unemployment and stimulating the sluggish economy as he is at being Commander in Chief! He DOES need to pay attention or the RATS will eat him alive over domestic issues.

[gcruse]

Yup. Unemployment numbers are based on surveys. Abe Abelson, the sharpest cookie in Barron's box, came out a decade ago revealing what manipulated boguses these numbers are and said any CFO who based forecasts and spending on government numbers is out of his mind.

[Lee308]

I realize I'm not educated beyound my means, but I make $50K a year with no kids, and I'm never unemployed. No disrespect. I see my post was pulled, I guess I used some colorful labor type language, my apologies. I meant wimps. not P---ys. Lee308 PS, My Portfolio is doing well :-)

[ARCADIA]

Get into the trades, its not cool to be a plumber or electrican, but work abounds. I'm in the Air Conditioning bizz. I'm not paid alot, but I can go to any town and find employment.

You are joking right? Most of the trades require extensive hands on training and years of work experience, before you qualify for any kind of license. That is fine if 18, but it is a no go for adults. BTW, housing starts are on their way down, contractor insurance rates are on their way up, and the market isn't quite as hot and dandy as you paint it. Just because someone with decades of experience can find a living, doesn't mean that the market is open to career changers.

[annyokie]

Oh, bullshit! Why did I spend $60,000 to tend bar or wait tables?

[maxwell]

Well la tee da. Let me put it this way, everybody gets hungry.

Ph.D. in physics?

It ain't that simple.

It would be an injustice to myself, to society and to my colleagues to NOT work in the field that I've invested the last, oh, eight or so years training in. Not to mention all the time and money that's been invested in me by other agents.

I should at least be one of those dudes running around with a clip board and a pocket protector...

I'm not tryin' to pull the arrogance thing on ya; I'm just stating fact. And yeah, if 30's-style depression came upon us and there were literally no market whatsoever for my skills, sure I'd be racing you for the next available shovel.