Unemployment Stubborn at 10% - Federal Worker Salaries Jump
Unemployment has stubbornly held at 10%. And these are only the government's "massaged" statistics. For example, they don't count people who've "given up" looking for a job. How they figure out that someone's "given up" is controversial to begin with, but why someone without a job and who is not actively looking for work doesn't "count" as unemployed stumps me.
The government's numbers also do not count people as unemployed who've taken on some part-time work. I can understand this to some degree, since the person working part-time is not strictly unemployed. Nevertheless, if you count in these part-time workers along with those who've been labeled as having "given up," as well as some additional categories of workers, you wind up with an unemployment rate of 17.3%!
Meanwhile, a survey in USA Today reports that the number of Federal workers who earn more six-figure salries has exploded since the start of the recession. In fact, the percent of Federal workers earning more than $100,000 has jumped from 14% before the recession to 19% after the beginning of the recession. And this does not count in people's overtime and bonuses. We're talking strictly their regular salaries here.
A rather shocking example of what's going on would be the Transportation Department. When the recession started, there was only one employee there earning over $100,000. Now there are over 1,690 employees in the Transportation Department earning over $100,000!
In fact, the Federal governments in boom times compared to most of us. A good sign of this is the simple fact that, of all metropolitan areas of the U.S., only Washington D.C. has seen an increase in apartment rentals. Vacancies are down and rents are up. In most other cities, vacancies are up and rents are down. With more people being employed by the Federal government, and more of them making more money, the Washington D.C real estate market is virtually the only sizable market doing well in the U.S.
One more interesting fact here is this: the category of employees doing best in the Federal government are the highly-compensated. I guess in that sense, Federal employees are starting to really reflect what's been going on in the country in general. An example of the special boom times for the highly-paid is the Defense Department where civilian (vs. military) employees earning over $150,000 increased since December 2007 from 1,868 to over 10,100 - a huge increase.
When I started working, Federal employment was not something people especially aspired to. Federal employees always had good benefits, but didn't make a lot of money. You took those job for the "security." That's obviously changed.
The bigger picture here is the increasing role the Federal government now plays in not only our lives, but the economy, since the financial crisis hit a couple of years ago.
Think about this: politicians last year took over much of the manufacturing sector of the economy, including the auto industry, the banking sector, and (if "Cap and Trade" becomes law) the production of electricity. Of course, if health care reform legislation passes, the government will pretty much have taken over the health care industry.
So combining the growth of jobs and wages of Federal employees with the growing influence of government in American business, you've got to conclude that maybe the most important event going on right now is the government takeover of large sections of American business and the explosion in the overall size of government.
Is there any more important event going on right now that affects more of us?
The government's numbers also do not count people as unemployed who've taken on some part-time work. I can understand this to some degree, since the person working part-time is not strictly unemployed. Nevertheless, if you count in these part-time workers along with those who've been labeled as having "given up," as well as some additional categories of workers, you wind up with an unemployment rate of 17.3%!
Meanwhile, a survey in USA Today reports that the number of Federal workers who earn more six-figure salries has exploded since the start of the recession. In fact, the percent of Federal workers earning more than $100,000 has jumped from 14% before the recession to 19% after the beginning of the recession. And this does not count in people's overtime and bonuses. We're talking strictly their regular salaries here.
A rather shocking example of what's going on would be the Transportation Department. When the recession started, there was only one employee there earning over $100,000. Now there are over 1,690 employees in the Transportation Department earning over $100,000!
In fact, the Federal governments in boom times compared to most of us. A good sign of this is the simple fact that, of all metropolitan areas of the U.S., only Washington D.C. has seen an increase in apartment rentals. Vacancies are down and rents are up. In most other cities, vacancies are up and rents are down. With more people being employed by the Federal government, and more of them making more money, the Washington D.C real estate market is virtually the only sizable market doing well in the U.S.
One more interesting fact here is this: the category of employees doing best in the Federal government are the highly-compensated. I guess in that sense, Federal employees are starting to really reflect what's been going on in the country in general. An example of the special boom times for the highly-paid is the Defense Department where civilian (vs. military) employees earning over $150,000 increased since December 2007 from 1,868 to over 10,100 - a huge increase.
When I started working, Federal employment was not something people especially aspired to. Federal employees always had good benefits, but didn't make a lot of money. You took those job for the "security." That's obviously changed.
The bigger picture here is the increasing role the Federal government now plays in not only our lives, but the economy, since the financial crisis hit a couple of years ago.
Think about this: politicians last year took over much of the manufacturing sector of the economy, including the auto industry, the banking sector, and (if "Cap and Trade" becomes law) the production of electricity. Of course, if health care reform legislation passes, the government will pretty much have taken over the health care industry.
So combining the growth of jobs and wages of Federal employees with the growing influence of government in American business, you've got to conclude that maybe the most important event going on right now is the government takeover of large sections of American business and the explosion in the overall size of government.
Is there any more important event going on right now that affects more of us?
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