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U.S. Unemployment Worsens |
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What does it mean when the number of jobs in September goes up, but the nation’s unemployment rate worsens?
One thing for sure is that the major media will emphasize the increase in jobs, even though that increase was not sufficient to staunch the souring unemployment numbers.
The U.S. Department of Labor today released the September jobs report that shows 110,000 workers were added to payrolls last month, but unemployment went from 4.6 percent to 4.7 percent, the worst unemployment rate since the summer of 2006.
As Bonddad notes:
The devil’s in the details, so let’s see what the inside story of this number is.
Construction: -14,000
Manufacturing: -18,000This shouldn’t surprise anyone. The housing sector has been dropping like a stone for the last year. While commercial construction has helped to absorb the displaced workers, that will eventually only go so far. It looks like we are at the point.
[snip]
71.81 percent of the jobs created (44,000 + 35,000) were lower paying. In addition, when we take government out of the equation (which gives us 73,000 total), pretty much the majority of jobs created is lower paying.
Bonddad’s point about the type of jobs being created is key. Jobs can be plentiful, but if you need three of them to pay your bills, something is seriously wrong.
Although today’s jobs figures revised to 89,000 the number of jobs added in August, after initially reporting a net loss of 4,000, and wages finally rose, not even mainstream economists believe the economy is strong. Yesterday, the Labor Department said jobless claims rose 16,000 to 317,000 in the week ended Sept. 29, a bigger jump than analysts anticipated. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that orders to U.S. factories fell in August by 3.3 percent, slightly worse than expected and the largest amount in seven months. And we all know the housing sector is tanking. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Demand for previously owned homes tumbled in August to the lowest level in five years as mortgage-market troubles hurt sales. Home resales fell to a 5.5 million annual rate, a 4.3 percent decline from July, the National Association of Realtors said. In a separate report, the S&P/Case-Shiller index showed the decline in U.S. home prices accelerated nationwide in July, posting the steepest drop in 16 years.
This week, The Wall Street Journal also ran two front-page articles on polls showing growing unhappiness among Republicans over the GOP’s fiscal policies, with Republicans even questioning the party’s unqualified support for so-called free trade.
Bush’s record is so bad, it’s a good time to burst the myth that Republicans are better at running the nation’s economy.
Robert Weiner and John Larmett do just that in a searing post whose head sums up their findings: “A Simple Fact: Republicans Can’t Manage the Economy.” They take a look at the economic records of Democratic and Republican presidents back to Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. Here are a couple of their findings:
The economy added 10 million jobs under Jimmy Carter despite high inflation; Carter ranks first in job creation next to Clinton during just four years in office. Carter also reduced government spending as a percentage of GDP [Gross Domestic Product].
George H. W. Bush had the poorest record for both GDP and income growth. During his single term, the deficit ballooned (from $152 billion to $255 billion) more than under every president but his son and Ford.
But if Bush Jr. was looking to outdo dad, his economic record is resoundingly worse than his father’s—and every other recent U.S. president.
Bragging about a $239 billion deficit sets such a low standard that Bush can claim horrific failure as a good thing for the country. The Bush administration’s annual loss of three-quarters of a trillion dollars is unprecedented. Bush presided over the loss of 2 million American jobs in his first 2-1/2 years and has net gained 5.6 million in six years, the worst since Hoover. Clinton created 23 million jobs.
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Tula-
You might want to mention to your readers that the Bureau of Labor Statistics bases the unemployment rate and the job increase/decrease numbers on two separate surveys.
The household survey measures the unemployment rate, and it surveys 40,000 households across the United States to get an accurate sample.
The industry survey is conducted in cooperation with several hundred thousand business and is normally regarded as more accurate due to the larger sample size, but it does not count self-employed individuals and new start-ups.
So, the economy could gain 1 million jobs in a month and the unemployment rate could increase. Several times in the past few years the unemployment rate has gone up despite significant increases in the industry survey.
Most of the job gains come from the government section, according to BLS. Michigan, which has most of its workforce employed in the private sector, does not benefit from the job gains.
Eventually job gains coming strictly from hirings by Uncle Sam are not desirable as they mean an enlarged federal bureaucracy and a larger federal budget deficit.
All citizens should read “Gold is the Cure for the Job-Drain” by Antal E. Fekete and then mobilize to demand that their State Senators and Congressional leaders bring back the Gold Standard. It is the only way to protect against the future loss of jobs and to ensure honesty and equity in the workplace.
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/jobdrain.html
If you think of it this way, it is very possible that the 110,000 additional jobs may actually account for a large number of people who have been forced to take on second jobs, or third. Also, a large number of government employees who have retired, some with decent pensions, have actually gone back to work doing similar jobs and getting yet another taxpayer funded, government sponsored paycheck. The numbers mean nothing. The health of the economy is indicative of the well being of the population, and the majority of people are struggling.