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APRIL 2008 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S.
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:
5.0%
| White |
4.4% |
| African
American |
8.6% |
| Hispanic |
6.9% |
| Asian** |
3.2% |
| Men
20 years and over |
4.
6% |
| Women
20 years and over |
4.3% |
| Teen-agers
(16-19 years) |
15.4% |
| Black
teens |
24.5% |
| Officially
unemployed |
7.6
million |
HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT
| Working
part-time because can't find a full-time job: |
5.2
million |
| People
who want jobs but are not counted in official statistics because
not looking (of which about 1.4 million** searched for work
during the prior 12 months and were available for work during
the reference week.) |
4.8
million |
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Total:
17.6 million (11.1% of the labor force)
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Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
In addition, millions
more were working full-time, year-round, yet earned less
than the official poverty level for a family of four. In 2006,
the latest year available,
that number was 17.7 million, 16.4 percent of full-time workers
(estimated from Current Population Survey, Bur. of the Census,
2007).
In February,
2008, the latest month available, the number of job
openings
was only 3.8 million, according to the BLS,
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Estimates, April 8, 2008.+
Thus there are more than 4 job-wanters for each
available job.
Mass
layoffs: In
March, 1,571 mass layoff events resulted in 157,156 filings for
unemployment insurance, seasonally adjusted. Both events and initial
claims were the highest for March since 2003. (BLS, April 23,
2008)
*See Uncommon
Sense #4 for an explanation of
the unemployment measures.
**Not seasonally adjusted.
+"In February, the job openings rate remained at 2.7 percent
Job openings include only
those jobs open on the last business day of the month. Over the
month, the job openings
rate rose in education and health services (to 3.9 percent) and
fell in manufacturing
(1.8 percent). Geographically, the job openings rate did not change
significantly in any
region. Since the series began in December 2000, three industries
have consistently
had higher job openings rates than the other industries: education
and health services (3.9 percent in February), accommodation and
food services (3.8 percent), and professional and business services
(3.7 percent).
Over
the year, the job openings rate did not rise significantly in
any industry. The rate fell
over the year for total nonfarm (to 2.6 percent) and total private
(2.8 percent) as well as in
several industries, including construction (1.8 percent); durable
goods manufacturing (1.6 percent); nondurable goods manufacturing
(2.1 percent); transportation, warehousing, and utilities (2.2
percent); information (1.7 percent); other services (2.1 percent);
and federal government (1.1 percent). Regionally, the job openings
rate fell over the year in the
Northeast (2.2 percent) and in the South (2.8 percent). "
Unemployment
Insurance Calculator, EPI
Source: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_jobspict_20061208
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