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JANUARY
2012 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S.
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL
UNEMPLOYMENT: 8.3%
[Analysis]
A year earlier, the number of unemployed
persons was 13.9
million, and the jobless rate was 9.1 percent. [BLS]
| White |
7.4% |
| African
American |
13.6% |
| Hispanic |
10.5% |
| Asian** |
6.7% |
| Persons with a disability** |
12.9% |
| Men
20 years and over |
7.7% |
| Women
20 years and over |
7.7% |
| Teens
(16-19 years) |
23.2% |
| Black
teens |
38.5% |
| Officially
unemployed |
12.8
million |
HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT
| Working
part-time because can't find a full-time job: |
8.2
million |
| People
who want jobs but are
not looking so are
not counted in official statistics (of which about 2.8 million**
searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available
for work during the reference week.) |
6.3
million |
|
Total:
27.3 million (17.0% of the labor force)
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Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
**Not
seasonally adjusted.
*See Uncommon Sense #4
for an explanation of the unemployment measures.
In addition,
millions more were working full-time, year-round, yet
earned less than the official poverty level for a family of four.
In
2010, the latest year available, that number was 16.8 million,
17.0 percent of full-time, full-year workers (estimated from Current
Population Survey, Bur. of the Census, 9/2011).
In
November, 2011, the latest month available, the number of
job openings was 3.2 million,
"unchanged
from October [sic].
Although the number of job openings remained below the 4.4 million
openings when the recession began in December 2007, the level in
November was 1.0 million higher than in July 2009 (the most recent
trough for the series). The number of job openings has increased
30 percent since the end of the recession in June 2009." Job
Openings and Labor Turnover Estimates, January 10, 2011.+
Thus there are now more than 8 job-wanters for each available job.
Source: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/10/more_job_creation
.html
Employment-population
ratio 1/1948 to 6/2011
The
Waste [of output] by Paul Krugman August 11, 2011
cumulative loss because of recession: $2.8 Tr.
Mass
layoffs: In December, employers took 1,384 mass layoff actions involving 145,648 workers. Mass layoff events increased by 52 from November, and associated initial claims increased by 14,021. In 2011, annual totals for events and initial claims were at their lowest levels since 2007.
Mass
layoffs: Review
of 2010 BLS, 2/11/11
For all of 2010, employers reported 7,158 extended mass layoff
actions, affecting 1,213,638 workers. Compared to 2009, the number
of events decreased by 39 percent and the number of separations
decreased by 42 percent, the first over-the-year decline for both
measures since 2005. The annual average national unemployment
rate increased from 9.3 percent in 2009 to 9.6 percent in 2010,
and private nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 0.8 percent,
or 914,000.
Industry Distribution of Extended Layoffs
In the private nonfarm economy, manufacturing reported the largest
number of separations, despite reaching a program low in 2010
(with annual data available back to 1996). Construction had the
next highest number of separations. Educational services reported
program highs in both layoff events and separations in 2010.
....
+
"The number of job openings in November
(not seasonally adjusted) was little changed over the year for
total nonfarm, total private, and government. Several industries
saw increases in the number of job openings over the year, while
the number of job openings decreased for finance and insurance,
professional and business services, and federal government. The
Midwest and South regions had increases in the number of job openings
and the West experienced a decline over the year. "
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