June Job Loss Hit Most Industries
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The 437,000 jobs lost in June were spread throughout most U.S. industries, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Manufacturing employment fell by 136,000 in June, while employment in construction decreased by 79,000. Job losses in professional and business services shot up in June, with the industry shedding 118,000 jobs. Retail trade employment was down by 21,000 in June.
Education and health care employment increased by 34,000, and employment in government dropped by 52,000 in June.
The overall unemployment rate increased to 9.5 percent in June, putting it at a 26-year high.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said today’s jobs data show that creating jobs is the key to a full economic recovery.
Congress and the Obama administration need to continue to remain focused on stimulus efforts to end the recession. Additionally, this is not just a problem in the United States, but at this stage, job loss is the vortex of the global economic crisis. To address this problem we believe that all governments should focus an extra 1 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] for stimulus focused on job creation.
Unemployment Rate Hits 9.5 Percent—a 26-Year High
The U.S. unemployment rate increased to 9.5 percent in June, a 26-year high, and up slightly from 9.4 percent in May. Some 467,000 jobs were lost in June, according to data released today by the Department of Labor.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 433,000 over the month to 4.4 million. That is an increase of more than 100,000 over the job loss in May.
This is the 18th straight month of job loss, with 6.5 million jobs gone since the start of the recession in December 2007.
U.S. Unemployment Rate Now 9.4 Percent
In May across the nation, 345,000 jobs were lost, worsening the U.S. unemployment rate to 9.4 percent, according to data released today by the Department of Labor.
There are now 14.5 million jobless U.S. workers, a number that doesn’t reflect the severity of the problem. If those who are underemployed or who want a job but have given up looking are counted, the broader U.S. unemployment rate stands at 16.4 percent—more than
25 million Americans who need jobs or full-time work but cannot find it.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 268,000 over the month to 3.9 million and has tripled since the start of the recession in December 2007.
Unemployed Workers Have Lifeline Because of Frances Perkins’ Legacy
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With U.S. unemployment at 8.5 percent in March, the highest rate in 25 years, more than 6 million Americans are making ends meet because of the idea and determination of the nation’s first female Cabinet member, Frances Perkins, a “canny but little-known social worker” who became President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s labor secretary during the Depression.
In a Point of View guest column at the AFL-CIO website, Kirstin Downey, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The Washington Post, says the vital need for many New Deal programs is especially clear now as we struggle through our current economic crisis.
Downey, author of The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, says Perkins and Roosevelt “propelled into existence” the unemployment insurance system, part of the package of social safety proposals born in the New Deal, including Social Security. Perkins brought her drive and commitment to the effort, and Roosevelt won the political support that allowed the package to pass, Downey says.
Recession Bad for All, Really Bad for Black Men
This info just out today from the Center for American Progress:
The recession is taking a toll on most Americans and has resulted in job losses not seen in almost 25 years, but black men have felt its effects particularly hard.
Black men have long faced limited employment prospects and disproportionately low rates of unemployment. Even as the economy thrived and the participation of low-skilled women in the labor force increased over the last two decades, many black men remained largely disconnected from the labor market. While the unemployment rate among black men has declined dramatically over the last few decades, the level of workforce participation among African-American men has not increased and remains stagnant. The current degree of job loss among black men is particularly alarming. These losses will likely only increase as the economic crisis deepens.
Unemployment LifeLine: One Stop Resource Center for Jobless
What can you do when your paycheck stops but your rent bills don’t? IrnBru001 asked other visitors to the new Unemployment LifeLine’s Break Room forum:
I’m looking for any suggestions on how I can lower my rent. Has anyone successfully talked with their landlord into lowering their rent so they could stay in their place?
UrbanMs. replied that she:
did a survey of rents since the housing debacle started and found they are actually lower than what I am currently paying for the same square footage. I hope this gives me a little leverage when I discuss the matter with him. I think though an honest discussion is the best start. It is difficult for landlords to find good tenants, too. If you have been paying on time in the past, he may be willing to work with you.
30,000 Jobs Lost a Day in March
The bloodletting of U.S. jobs continues at an unprecedented pace: In March, the number of jobless workers worsened by 663,000, to 13.2 million, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.5 percent. That’s about 30,000 jobs lost for each work day in March.
In its monthly jobs report, the Labor Department sums up the latest data, which paint a dire picture of the labor market:
Since the recession began in December 2007, 5.1 million jobs have been lost, with almost two-thirds (3.3 million) of the decrease occurring in the last five months.
Economic Policy Institute (EPI) economist Heidi Shierhotz doesn’t mince words about the shockingly bad unemployment rate:
This morning’s unemployment report offered no hint of light at the end of the tunnel. Instead, it showed that the labor market is still in its darkest months.
Six Republican Governors Rather Play Politics than Aid Jobless Workers
With U.S. unemployment at the highest level in more than a quarter century, six Republican governors would rather play politics with the lives of their citizens than help them make ends meet.
President Obama’s economic recovery plan provides $25 more per week and extends benefits for those who are jobless and struggling to feed their families. But as Karen Nussbaum, director of Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, writes on Huffington Post:
If you live in Alabama, Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina or Texas, you are laid off and left out.
When AIG defrauded investors and the government, employees there took home millions in bonuses. Elsewhere, people are living unemployment check to unemployment check through no fault of their own, laid off because everyone is tightening their belts and job growth is nonexistent. Shoring up the unemployment insurance safety net is fundamental fairness.
Bad, Bad, Bad Jobs Report: Unemployment at 8.1 Percent
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Stunningly bad news on the nation’s jobless rate today: Unemployment worsened to 8.1 percent in February, from 7.6 percent in January, the highest level in more than a quarter century, according to Labor Department data released today.
We’re now looking at historical comparisons of joblessness not to the bad recession of the Reagan years but to the Depression era. This from Bloomberg:
Employers eliminated 651,000 jobs, the third straight month that losses surpassed 600,000—the first time that’s happened since the data began in 1939.
‘Can My Boss Do That?’
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Anne Janks, a workers’ rights activist, is on the front lines of the economic crisis. She hears every day from people like Joe Buczek, who told her that when he recently lost his job at a gourmet grocery in Tampa, Fla., his boss told him to take his final pay in food and wine, rather than wait for his final paycheck. Not knowing where to turn for advice, Buczek called his friend Janks, who told him what his boss was doing is illegal. She directed Buczek to a legal form letter he could send to his boss demanding his rightful pay.
Not every unemployed worker has a friend like Janks, but now they can all take advantage of her work and advice. Today, Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) launched a new website, www.CanMyBossDoThat.com, which Janks designed. The site helps jobless workers understand their rights and protections and stand up for themselves.
