Blue collar U.S. males lose more ground

Reuters ^ | 19 May 09 | Ed Stoddard

[SkyPilot]

DALLAS, May 19 (Reuters) - Rodney Ringler is an unemployed blue collar male without a college degree. He's hardly alone. Men like him have been the main victims of the current recession in the United States.

"I haven't worked since December of 2007, around the time this recession started," Ringler, a 49-year-old computer technician, said as he walked his dog in a Dallas suburb.

He sees little light at the end of the tunnel.

"I've been looking to get into law enforcement because it's a growth area," he said, but had no immediate prospects.

One statistic that stands out in America's recession-stung economy is the unemployment rate for adult men: in April for the second month in a row it surged ahead of the national average to 9.4 percent versus 8.9 percent for all workers. The jobless rate for adult women was 7.1 percent.

The reasons are clear: male-heavy sectors such as construction and manufacturing have been hard hit. But the implications may be dire for the broader economy and hamper the recovery as families that once had male breadwinners struggle.

[olivia3boys]

My computer programmer brother told me 15 years ago that programming is the “blue collar job of the future.”

Looks like he was right.

And me—never thought I’d ever have to learn to program a computer—female, bad at math, 40 yrs old, mom to 4, zero interest in computers—my employer last year asked me to learn Visual Basic for Applications, for Excel, and I have.

Pigs fly. . .

Soon we will all be programmers. It’s simply the future.

[Graybeard58]

I don’t know but I think that I could cure that one on the left front.

The picture was taken in 1966. Add 43 years to her age and then think about it.

[Graybeard58]

I don’t know but I think that I could cure that one on the left front.

The picture was taken in 1966. Add 43 years to her age and then think about it.

[ansel12]

That occurred to me after I posted, I did cure a campus NOW President once though.

[this_ol_patriot]

Mmm... Since when is a computer technician position considered "blue collar"?

He probably sets up them up, plugs this into that, fixes jammed printers and maybe changes out parts. That would be what we call a "technician" like in HVAC technician. I'm blue collar, a Plant Engineering Technician and I spend more time with computers than anything since most of our HVAC equipment is now controlled by them. This also includes basic programming in the building management software language. We use Siemens Apogee Insight.

[Cindy]

You’re welcome Sparky1776.

[VeniVidiVici]

What is a rug muncher?

Google it and report back. Make sure your virus definitions are up to date though.

[dajeeps]

You are right. I misread it. Thanks for pointing it out.

[SkyPilot]

I did cure a campus NOW President once though.

Thanks for this morning's smile.

[SkyPilot]

What is a rug muncher?

rug munch (rg mnch) v. rugmunched, rugmunch·ing, rugmunch·es v.intr.
n. rugmuncher 1. A member of the squantas family concerning large predators of the primate family; masculine form of the rodent Barney Frank, the producers on the Bravo Network, and 75% of the contestants on American Idol
2. To eat with pleasure nylon, rayon, or other durable nappy fibers.
v.tr. To chew or eat audibly, especially in Women's Departments of Universities and at abortion rallies.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Middle English monchen.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- tapestry-muncher n.

[SkyPilot]

I am out of flame throwers, but I do know where I can get some holy water.

It would have the same effect.

[ansel12]

I did cure a campus NOW President once though

After having a several months affair with me, she resigned her leadership role and left NOW.

Evidently I can fix'em.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oh, yeah. Those ‘curious’ teenage boys and their viral destruction of the Family Computer is a money well that will never dry up, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“In the 1990-91 recession, men lost 1.037 million jobs. They have lost 4.5 million to date in this one. ‘This time around it is amazingly different in terms of the magnitude,’ Sum said.”

Let me be the first to say, “0bama’s Fault!”

Truly, that’s SOME number to wrap your brain around! We’re remaining relatively untouched here in southern Wisconsin, but the ripples are starting to be felt due to the Auto Industry problems; local dealerships are closing, and that effects everyone down the food/retail chain. We’ve lost a dairy, which is tragic, and the main problem is that business isn’t moving here IN THE FIRST PLACE because of our tax-happy Democrat-run Governorship, House and Assembly.

So far, the fact that we have a LOT of government, a big state-run university and lots of hospitals has helped greatly; they’re pretty recession-proof.

But, I have no doubt that it’s coming. We’ve been doing pretty well so far, and only have one family member laid off right now; but he’s a liberal, tree-hugging, barely employable bum to begin with, LOL!

[reformedliberal]

We were told a couple of weeks ago that some folks on State Department of Education pensions (not teachers, but ancillary educational workers) had their pensions cut. They are flaming libs and were *shocked* at the *investments* of their plan. They were in the *core* (conservative) program. They were warned back in February and had 2% cut in March. This was an additional cut effective, IIRC, as of June. It wasn’t a huge amount, but the writing is one the wall. Unfortunately, this affects many of my husband’s clients, but we haven’t had any effect from it, yet. He does have a regular client who lost 40% due to being invested in the *variable* pension plan option, but she returned after about a month.

I am unsure if this also affects teachers.

[VeniVidiVici]

LOL!! Napolitano is beyond that.

[mysterio]

Sorry, blue collar workers. The free trade crowd decided you made too much money. Outsource all jobs, print more money. All we have to do is look at the economy to see what a massive success this strategy has been.

[SkyPilot]

Sorry, blue collar workers. The free trade crowd decided you made too much money.

Bbbbbut?! We voted for Hope and Change!!!!!!!

[Viking2002]

'What is a rug muncher?'

OK, riddle me this, Batman:

Q: What is the difference between a Triscuit and a lesbian?

A: One of them is a snack cracker.

[Viking2002]

I have a computer room at home, since I work out of a virtual office. Not only does it look like the bridge of the starship Enterprise (as you can imagine), I also do bench repairs there. And at least once a month, the PC of an in-law or one of the wife's co-workers magically appears there, in need of some sort of laying of the hands, or other voodoo. I trained her good in the art of Field Triage 101 several years ago so I wouldn't come home from work, expecting to pour a glass of wine and cook a hot meal, only to find another sick patient wanting after-hours care. LOL She's probably better at meat-and-potatoes diagnostics than some of the techs I run with. LMAO