Jobless Rate Worse Than the Headlines Say

azcentral.com ^ | 9-22-03 | Justin Bachman

[riri]

An analysis of the latest government monthly economic data suggests the unemployment situation is worse than the headlines portray.

August numbers from the Department of Labor found a 6.1 percent unemployment rate, or about 8.9 million people out of work. But in its analysis of other monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. reported the real unemployment rate was 9.1 percent.

[riri]

ping

[Texas_Dawg]

We're all doomed.

[biblewonk]

16 and 17 year olds don't count.

[StolarStorm]

How's that boiler room job going?

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Some people choose self-employment.

Some people are forced into it.

It makes you work harder and feel better about your work.

Self-employed people are more fit and tend to be more conservative.

All good news except for Democrats.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Some young Americans are joining-up:

Soft Economy Aids Army Recruiting Effort
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/987115/posts
[ "That's the driver, the economy," said Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, the head of the Army Recruiting Command here ]

[Lazamataz]

Waging war on the American worker

Yup. You sure are.

You are definately a Free Traitor.

[Weimdog]

Made in China!

It's time to start shopping by label and not by price. The job you save may be your own.

[Tony Niar Brain]

A big problem _I_ think that this country has besides unemployment is the underemployment problem. It seems to me that there are lots of people with college degrees (useful ones, not philosophy) or whatnot who are waiting tables when they should be on a computer or in a lab. I worry about that, and how these BLS reports really seem to be ignoring it.

[waterstraat]

Its worse than 9.1, lots of people quit looking, esp in IT, or in any of the industries losing factories or going thru extensive outsourcing like the banks, airlines, aircraft, autos, etc.

Lots of people have very light jobs, while they futilely wait for their good jobs to come back, for IT jobs to open up, or for their factories to return from asia.

I have never known anyone who has ever been surveyed by the government as to their employment/unemployment status, ever.I have heard of people in all other types of surveys, tv shows, political candidates, merchandising, etc, but never employment status. Seems like I would have heard of someone who was asked just once. I dont think their sample is very large, nor accurate.

[Koblenz]

I sort of leapt, and was sort of pushed, into self-employment. Now I bill by the hour, and am making about 50% more than I did as a regular salary jockey. Of course, I work a lot on weekends and in evenings, but the checks keep rolling in. I'm not actively looking for new clients, have way too much work. And if I want to take an afternoon off to play tennis, I take the afternoon off and play tennis. Don't need to ask anyone.

Of course, my clients don't have to pay my health insurance, and if they're unhappy with my product, they just stop using me. No severance. No vacation pay. But still, I'll take the higher payments.

If you're self employed, be sure to set up a SEP IRA. And be sure to take about a third of your billing receipts and set them aside for taxes.

[riri]

Seems like I would have heard of someone who was asked just once. I dont think their sample is very large, nor accurate

By design, ofcouse.

[ClaireSolt]

Unemployment stats are not based on surveys. They count the numbers of people filing for unemployment insurance and engaging in job seeking activities.

Recoveries come from moving some people from passive to active. In other words, some who were employees become entrepreneurs and them employers (been there and done that). Then they become new targets for the "business destroyers" in various government agencies.

Others will engage in education or retraining to adapt to the new employment market. Many old jobs never come back.

[richardtavor]

Be sure to make quarterly payments to the IRS or they will absolutely crucify you on penalties and interest (I learned the hard way!)

[riri]

True. While I only have a few clients (just lost two this past summer), what I bill someone while working from home is more than double what I could make out in the market. Actually, sometimes it can be 3 or four times as high, if I take into account other considerations.

But again, I am responsible for all my own computer repairs, upgrades, software, etc. Also, if (I work in marketing) I send something to a third party and the job goes south for whatever reason--I still have to pay that vendor. That is a nerve wracking aspect.

[dandelion]

This method of rigging the unemployment figures was brought to you by the Clinton administration. They used it, along with their special accounting "methods", to show a booming economy even when the job market/stock market started to slide. They are to blame for this whole damn mess, and if they hadn't been in office, my brother-in-law would still have a job.

Oh yeah, he's been unemployed for two and a half years - IT, UNIX systems security - and he's taken $9.00/hour construction jobs to try and get by since he too is "over qualified" (over 40 with a large family). But since his unemployment benefits ran out, he doesn't show up on the Labor Dept. radar, either...