Unemployment Numbers Don't Tell the Real Story
Unemployment's been pretty stubborn. It's hovering just under 10%. The so-called "under-employed" bring the number close to 17%. Seems pretty bad, doesn't it? It is.
But even more important than the numbers is what's behind them. For example, when you break down the current 9.6% unemployed, you find that includes the fact that 26% of all young people are unemployed. And of that number, 49% of black youth are unemployed. So let's think about this.
We're looking at a quarter of our young people, and just about half of black young people out of work. These are folks who are not in school. What are they doing if they're not working? Some of them may be looking for work, right? But after a while - if you've ever been unemployed, you'll know what I mean - you can get discouraged. And these numbers have held steady for just about two years or more. That's more than a while. It's a long time. Don't you think there are a lot of discouraged young people out there?
Sad, isn't it? In America, millions of young people can't find work. Millions of young Americans are discouraged. What happened to the "land of opportunity"?
Here's another example. The most recent unemployment "numbers" showed that 67,000 jobs were created by the private sector. The press said that was good news. Private job creation has picked up, plus this number was higher than expected.
But then you dig deeper and find that all - yes, ALL - these jobs were low-paid jobs, mostly in the service sector, meaning jobs in fast-food joints, hotels, etc.
And who's taking these low-paid jobs? Mostly older folks. Not the young ones. Have you looked at the folks behind the counter at your fast-food joint lately? I don't know about you, but there are a heck of a lot more older folks back there. Weren't these the sort of jobs that young people got when they were starting out? I guess that's not the case anymore.
Why are these older folks taking all these jobs, rather than young people? They need work. They need work to earn money just to pay the rent and eat.
I used to think this was probably true for some small percent of older and retired people. Then I came across this statistic. It comes from an annual survey by CareerBuilder. They run a website where people go to find jobs. Their survey is intended to determine the number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. Here's what they found: 2007 - 43%; 2008 - 49%; 2009 - 61%. Now get this. Their most recent survey put the number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck at 71%. 71%!!!
So what's happening with all those unemployed and underemployed who were already living paycheck to paycheck? Unemployment benefits were extended, so maybe they're getting some money from that. And food stamps now go to 1 in 8 Americans - just about 43 million people. So maybe they're getting food stamps.
Now, how long will that last? How long can the government pay unemployment benefits? To how many more Americans can the government give food stamps? Where are they getting the money to provide these benefits? Isn't the government broke?
We started with unemployment numbers and look where it brought us. We just bumped up against what feels like a brick wall. Where do we go now?
If unemployment doesn't start going down pretty soon, 2011's starting to look dicey, don't you think?
But even more important than the numbers is what's behind them. For example, when you break down the current 9.6% unemployed, you find that includes the fact that 26% of all young people are unemployed. And of that number, 49% of black youth are unemployed. So let's think about this.
We're looking at a quarter of our young people, and just about half of black young people out of work. These are folks who are not in school. What are they doing if they're not working? Some of them may be looking for work, right? But after a while - if you've ever been unemployed, you'll know what I mean - you can get discouraged. And these numbers have held steady for just about two years or more. That's more than a while. It's a long time. Don't you think there are a lot of discouraged young people out there?
Sad, isn't it? In America, millions of young people can't find work. Millions of young Americans are discouraged. What happened to the "land of opportunity"?
Here's another example. The most recent unemployment "numbers" showed that 67,000 jobs were created by the private sector. The press said that was good news. Private job creation has picked up, plus this number was higher than expected.
But then you dig deeper and find that all - yes, ALL - these jobs were low-paid jobs, mostly in the service sector, meaning jobs in fast-food joints, hotels, etc.
And who's taking these low-paid jobs? Mostly older folks. Not the young ones. Have you looked at the folks behind the counter at your fast-food joint lately? I don't know about you, but there are a heck of a lot more older folks back there. Weren't these the sort of jobs that young people got when they were starting out? I guess that's not the case anymore.
Why are these older folks taking all these jobs, rather than young people? They need work. They need work to earn money just to pay the rent and eat.
I used to think this was probably true for some small percent of older and retired people. Then I came across this statistic. It comes from an annual survey by CareerBuilder. They run a website where people go to find jobs. Their survey is intended to determine the number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. Here's what they found: 2007 - 43%; 2008 - 49%; 2009 - 61%. Now get this. Their most recent survey put the number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck at 71%. 71%!!!
So what's happening with all those unemployed and underemployed who were already living paycheck to paycheck? Unemployment benefits were extended, so maybe they're getting some money from that. And food stamps now go to 1 in 8 Americans - just about 43 million people. So maybe they're getting food stamps.
Now, how long will that last? How long can the government pay unemployment benefits? To how many more Americans can the government give food stamps? Where are they getting the money to provide these benefits? Isn't the government broke?
We started with unemployment numbers and look where it brought us. We just bumped up against what feels like a brick wall. Where do we go now?
If unemployment doesn't start going down pretty soon, 2011's starting to look dicey, don't you think?
Comments