Job Losses Prove Stimulus Worked and "created a whole bunch of jobs"

Three days after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the national unemployment rate had ticked up from 9.1 percent in May to 9.2 percent in June, President Barack Obama said that the loss of jobs in the public sector is "evidence" that his $830-billion economic stimulus legislation worked.

"Now, without relitigating the past, I'm absolutely convinced, and the vast majority of economists are convinced, that the steps we took in the Recovery Act saved millions of people their jobs or created a whole bunch of jobs," Obama said at his Monday press conference.

Economy Faces a Jolt as Benefit Checks Run Out - Yahoo! Finance

An extraordinary amount of personal income is coming directly from the government.

Close to $2 of every $10 that went into Americans’ wallets last year were payments like jobless benefits, food stamps, Social Security and disability, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics. In states hit hard by the downturn, like Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Ohio, residents derived even more of their income from the government.

By the end of this year, however, many of those dollars are going to disappear, with the expiration of extended benefits intended to help people cope with the lingering effects of the recession. Moody’s Analytics estimates $37 billion will be drained from the nation’s pocketbooks this year.

In terms of economic impact, that is slightly less than the spending cuts Congress enacted to keep the government financed through September, averting a shutdown.

Unless hiring picks up sharply to compensate, economists fear that the lost income will further crimp consumer spending and act as a drag on a recovery that is still quite fragile. Among the other supports that are slipping away are federal aid to the states, the Federal Reserve’s program to pump money into the economy and the payroll tax cut, scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

“If we don’t get more job growth and gains in wages and salaries, then consumers just aren’t going to have the firepower to spend, and the economy is going to weaken,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, a macroeconomic consulting firm.

Job growth has remained elusive. There are 4.6 unemployed workers for every opening, according to the Labor Department, and Friday’s unemployment report showed that employers added an anemic 18,000 jobs in June.

In Arizona, where there are 10 job seekers for every opening, 45,000 people could lose benefits by the end of the year, according to estimates from the state Department of Economic Security. Yet employers in the state have added just 4,000 jobs over the last 12 months.

Some other states will also feel a disproportionate loss of income unless hiring revives. In Florida, where nearly 476,000 people are collecting unemployment benefits, employers have added only 11,200 jobs in the last year. In Michigan, employers have added about 40,000 jobs since May 2010, but about 267,000 people are claiming jobless benefits.

Throughout the recession and its aftermath, government benefits have helped keep money in people’s wallets and, in turn, circulating among businesses. Total government payments rose to $2.3 trillion in 2010, from $1.7 trillion in 2007, an increase of about 35 percent.

While some of that growth was in Social Security and disability benefits as the population aged, the majority resulted from payments to people continuing to suffer from the recession, said Mr. Zandi. Unemployment benefits, including emergency and extended benefits, are more than three times their prerecession level, he said. The nearly 20 percent of personal income now provided by the government is close to a record high.

 Read more here: Economy Faces a Jolt as Benefit Checks Run Out - Yahoo! Finance

FT.com / Companies / Retail - McDonald’s to shake up food ordering system

Just what we need during a depression more out of work people.

McDonald’s is to change the way customers order its meals in Europe, partly replacing cashiers and the use of banknotes at its 7,000 fast-food restaurants in the region with touchscreen terminals and swipe cards.

“Ordering food has not changed for 30 or 40 years,” said Steve Easterbrook, president of McDonald’s Europe, in an interview with the Financial Times. 

The move is part of the fast-food chain’s efforts to woo cash-strapped customers by making its restaurants more convenient and convivial. It is refurbishing stores, and introducing longer opening hours and new menus.

At a time when many retail and consumer companies are racking up sluggish or even shrinking sales in Europe, McDonald’s like-for-like sales rose 5.7 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter – the highest growth out of its three main geographic regions.

Mr Easterbrook said that the changes would make life easier for consumers as well as improve efficiency, with average transactions three to four seconds shorter for each customer. McDonald’s European stores serve 2m customers a day.

Weiky Filho, a student enjoying a burger at McDonald’s in Wimbledon, London, was in favour of the changes. “You don’t need to communicate with staff and it would be much quicker,” he said.

But Joe Surkitz, 21, was less convinced. “I’m looking for work and if there’s more machines doing jobs I’ll find it harder. Plus you won’t get service with a smile.”

FT.com / Companies / Retail - McDonald’s to shake up food ordering system

Biden sees up to 200,000 new U.S. jobs next month | Reuters

Opps I guess the VP was wrong again. The article below was from April 2010 and at that time the Whitehouse was predicting that the economy would be creating at least 250,000 jobs a month. A year later we have unemployment rising and 1 out of 7 Americans are relying on food stamps to keep food on the table.

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2010 (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden predicted on Friday the U.S. economy would create 100,000 to 200,000 jobs next month, with a rise to 250,000 to 500,000 jobs per month soon afterward, according to a press pool report.

"All in all, we're going to be creating somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 jobs next month, I predict," Biden was quoted as saying, while acknowledging he "got in trouble" for a job growth prediction in March.

"Even some in the White House said 'Hey, don't get ahead of yourself.' Well I'm here to tell you some time in the next couple of months we're going to be creating between 250,000 jobs a month and 500,000 jobs a month."

UPDATE 1-Biden sees up to 200,000 new U.S. jobs next month | Reuters

Unemployment Actually 10.2 Percent, 1 in 5 Workers Can’t Find Full-Time Job, Says Gallup | CNSnews.com

More bad news on the employment front.

(CNSNews.com) - One out of five American workers who wants a full-time job cannot find one, according to a Gallup survey released today.

This news comes 25 months after President Barack Obama signed a stimulus law designed to keep the U.S. unemployment rate under 8 percent.

Gallup derives what it calls the “underemployment” rate by combining the percentage of unemployed workers with the percentage of workers who are employed only part-time but want a full-time job.

As of mid-March, Gallup reported in its new survey, 10.2 percent of American workers were unemployed and 9.7 percent were working part-time but wanted a full-time job. That equals an underemployment rate of 19.9 percent—or approximately one out of every five workers.

According to Gallup, the employment picture in the United States is virtually unchanged from a year ago.

In mid-March 2010, 10.3 percent of American workers were unemployed and 9.7 percent were working part-time but wanted a full-time job--yielding an underemployment rate of 20.0 percent. That compares to today’s 19.9 percent underemployment rate.

Read more here: Unemployment Actually 10.2 Percent, 1 in 5 Workers Can’t Find Full-Time Job, Says Gallup

By now everyone has a friend or relative that is either collecting unemployment or has taken any job just to keep food on the table. Is it any wonder that the Wisconsin government workers get so little sympathy from the average Joe, who would love that guys job who called out sick so he gets paid by the state and gets to hurl insults at the Governor. Unionized government workers are bad news for taxpayers.

Jesse Jackson Jr. Fix Unemployment by Changing Constitution So Every Ki...

Only 47% Of Working Age Americans Have Full Time Jobs

By Ilargi on The Automatic Earth.

VK, roving reporter for The Automatic Earth, has been playing with the numbers from the January 7 employment report issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It seems valuable to look at unemployment from this, a different, angle. Some of it may even surprise you.

The total non institutional civilian labor force (Americans 16 years and older who are not in a institution -criminal, mental, or other types of facilities- or an active military duty) is reported as 238.889 million. Of these, we see:

* Employed: 139.206 million people (58.3% of labor force)
* Unemployed: 14.485 million people (6.1% of labor force)

Read more: Only 47% Of Working Age Americans Have Full Time Jobs

The American Dream Blog - 24 Signs That All Of America Is Becoming Just Like Detroit – A Rotting, Post-Industrial, Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland

The scary part is that 4 out of the 24 all relate to my state, New Jersey.

24 Signs That All Of America Is Becoming Just Like Detroit – A Rotting, Post-Industrial, Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland

For years, people have been laughing at the horrific economic decline of Detroit. Well, guess what? The same thing that happened to Detroit is now happening to dozens of other communities across the United States. From coast to coast there are formerly great manufacturing cities that have turned into rotting, post-industrial war zones. In particular, in America's "rust belt" you can drive through town after town after town that resemble little more than post-apocalyptic wastelands. In many U.S. cities, the "real" rate of unemployment is over 30 percent. There are some communities that will start depressing you almost the moment you drive into them. It is almost as if all of the hope has been sucked right out of those communities.

Meanwhile, the economic downturn has been incredibly hard on the finances of state and local governments across the United States. Unlike the federal government, state and local governments cannot use the Federal Reserve to play games with their exploding debt burdens. Facing horrific budget deficits, many communities have begun adopting "austerity measures" in an attempt to slow the flow of red ink. All over the nation, deep budget cuts are slashing police departments, fire departments and other basic social services, but it seems like no matter what many of these communities try the debt just keeps growing.

So when you combine economic hopelessness with drastic budget cuts, what you get are hordes of communities from coast to coast that are becoming just like Detroit. In the city of Detroit today, there are over 33,000 abandoned houses, 44 schools have been permanently closed down, the mayor wants to bulldoze one-fourth of the city and you can literally buy a house for one dollar in the worst areas. Many Americans thought that it was funny to make fun of Detroit, but little did they know that what happened there would soon start happening everywhere.

The following are 24 signs that all of America is becoming a rotting, post-industrial, post-apocalyptic wasteland just like Detroit....

#1 The second most dangerous city in the United States - Camden, New Jersey - is about to lay off about half its police.

#2 In the city of Camden, about the only "industries" that are truly thriving are drug-dealing and prostitution. It is estimated that there are literally dozens of open-air drug markets in Camden.

#3 The city of Newark, New Jersey laid off 13 percent of its police force just last week.

#4 Of 315 municipalities the New Jersey State Policemen's union recently surveyed, more than half indicated that they were planning to lay off police officers.

#5 At least 1000 people now live in the 200 miles of flood tunnels that exist under the city of Las Vegas.

#6 All over America, asphalt roads are being ground up and are being replaced with gravel because it is cheaper to maintain. The state of South Dakota has transformed over 100 miles of asphalt road into gravel over the past year, and 38 out of the 83 counties in the state of Michigan have transformed at least some of their asphalt roads into gravel roads.

#7 The number of Americans on food stamps has hit yet another new all-time record. 42.9 million Americans are now enrolled and federal authorities fully expect that number to continue to skyrocket.

#8 The city of San Jose, California recently laid off 49 firefighters.

#9 Over the past year, approximately 100 of New York's state parks and historic sites have had to cut services and reduce hours.

#10 In 2009 alone, approximately 4 million more Americans joined the ranks of the poor.

#11 The state of Arizona recently decided to stop paying for many types of organ transplants for people enrolled in its Medicaid program.

#12 Many of the police in Arizona that patrol communities near the border with Mexico say that they are "outmanned" and "outgunned" and now live in fear of being taken out by drug cartel assassins.

#13 Gang violence in America is getting totally out of control. According to authorities, there are now over 1 million members of criminal gangs operating inside the country, and those gangs are responsible for up to 80% of the violent crimes committed in the U.S. each year.

#14 Oakland, California Police Chief Anthony Batts has announced that due to severe budget cuts there are a number of crimes that his department will simply not be able to respond to any longer. The crimes that the Oakland police will no longer be responding to include grand theft, burglary, car wrecks, identity theft and vandalism.

#15 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one anti-poverty program run by the federal government.

#16 The state of Illinois is so far behind on its bills that not even schools and essential social services are getting their money on time.

#17 The sheriff's department in Ashtabula County, Ohio has been slashed from 112 to 49 deputies, and there is now just one vehicle remaining to patrol all 720 square miles of the county.

#18 As our local communities degenerate economically, it appears that they are falling apart morally as well. There are approximately 400,00 registered sex offenders in the United States as you read this.

#19 In a desperate attempt to save money, the city of Colorado Springs turned off a third of its streetlights and put its police helicopters up for auction.

#20 According to one recent study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.

#21 According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 25 percent of America's nearly 600,000 bridges need significant repairs or are burdened with more traffic than they were designed to carry.

#22 In Georgia, the county of Clayton recently eliminated its entire public bus system in order to save 8 million dollars.

#23 Things have gotten so bad in Stockton, California that the police union put up a billboard with the following message: "Welcome to the 2nd most dangerous city in California. Stop laying off cops."

#24 Major cities such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and Sacramento have instituted "rolling brownouts" in which various city fire stations are shut down on a rotating basis. So if you live in one of those cities and you have a fire, you had better hope that your local fire station is not scheduled for a "brownout" that day.

 

Sac Bee - Editorial: Bell tolls for unemployment insurance fund

California's solution for its high unemployment:

1. ask the Feds for more money to pay unemployment, and
2. not repay the $15B they have already borrowed.

Its a good thing Nancy is no longer the Speaker because California's request won't be tacked onto a spending bill for defense or some other "essential" piece of legislation or will it?

There are currently 30 other states that have also borrowed from the Federal Government to pay the first 26 weeks of unemployment. The primary reason these states don't have the money is because the unemployment is so high in some states that there is not enough money coming in to pay all of the unemployment claims. But in some  cases like New Jersey, the state legislatures "borrowed" (i.e. robbed) the unemployment fund so they could pay for other things without having to cut spending or raise taxes to close budget deficits in years past.

I am quite sure that some of those other states mentioned in the editorial are Red states and that their dually elected Representatives in Congress will want to make sure that their constituents continue to get paid unemployment. Why? Because all politicians both Republican and Democrat fear one thing....unemployment.... for themselves.

But when does it stop? It doesn't and that you see is the root of the problem. The Federal government will continue to borrow from foreign nations until those nations lose all confidence in the dollar, which will mean the Federal Reserve will have to buy all of our debt not just the $600B they promised to do last week. 

Ladies and Gentlemen when that happens it is game over for America.

Bell tolls for unemployment insurance fund

It doesn't get as much attention as the state's massive budget deficit, but the red ink threatening to bankrupt California's unemployment insurance fund is almost as big, estimated to be more than $15 billion by the end of the year. If state unemployment continues at 11 percent to 12 percent, as expected, the UI fund deficit will balloon to $21 billion by the end of 2011.

Whatever legislators do to address the growing shortfall will be painful for the state's unemployed workers, employers and California's battered economy. And yet doing nothing is not a smart option. The state has borrowed billions from the federal government to keep unemployment benefits flowing. If that money is not repaid by 2012, Washington could recoup the money automatically by raising the federal unemployment insurance tax on employers.

In its new report, "California's Other Budget Deficit," the Legislative Analyst's Office lays out the stark options facing state lawmakers: reduce benefits to unemployed workers or raise the taxes of employers or both. The latter is the most responsible solution.

California legislators clearly miscalculated in 2001 when they doubled unemployment benefits without raising taxes to pay for them. Still, while California's maximum benefit of $450 a week is high, the average actually paid is less – $307 a week, just $10 more than the national average. And, when California's high wages and high cost of living are factored into the calculation, state benefits replace a smaller share of a laid-off worker's wages here than in most other states.

As the debate rages about whether benefits or taxes are too high or too low, what's indisputable is that the tax revenues and benefit levels as they currently stand are hugely out of whack. Something needs to be done to bring them into balance.

The LAO report recommends sensible but politically difficult solutions. Among its recommendations, raise the taxable wage base from $7,000 to $10,500 a year and increase employer tax rates. Decrease the maximum benefit from $450 a week to $338 and increase the minimum level of wages paid to qualify for benefits from $1,125 in 12 months to $3,680.

The proposal advanced would require an equitable sharing of the burden. Yet it would require lawmakers to possess a degree of political backbone that isn't yet in evidence.

The tax increase on employers would require a two-thirds vote in the Legislature, something neither Democrats nor Republicans want to approve, not in the midst of a continuing recession. They won't want to cut unemployment benefits either, given the high number of their constituents out of work.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrel Steinberg says he will urge state leaders to lobby California's congressional delegation instead to keep the federal unemployment insurance funds flowing and to delay or forestall repayment of the money the state has borrowed. That's a humane response, but it doesn't do much to counter California's reputation as a "nation state" that can't manage its finances.

In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Steinberg and other state leaders are hoping the federal government will keep bailing out California and 30 other states that also have huge unemployment fund deficits. It's a gamble, one that could fall hard on the state's employers – and the state's economy – if the federal government insists on repayment and raises the unemployment insurance tax on its own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Business Insider- California Is Broke: 19 Reasons It May Be Time For Everyone To Leave The State For Good

After decades of mismanagement by both liberal Democrats and RINOs, California, like Europe, is just plain broke. 

How did it happen? How is it possible that a state built by the 49ers, not the football team although they were once great too, is now known more for the amount of 99ers it produces each month rather than the latest innovation from silicon valley? The answer is simple. The politicians raised very type of tax known to man so they could pay for all types of social experiments and the citizens let them do it because they were creating a better society.

Well ladies and gentlemen here is what a better, kinder society looks like and believe me it isn't pretty but rather downright depressing.  

California Is Broke: 19 Reasons It May Be Time For Everyone To Leave The State For Good
Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a seemingly endless parade of pop songs about how great life was in California, and millions of young Americans dreamed of moving to the land of sandy beaches and golden sunshine.

But now all of that has changed. Today, millions of Californians are dreaming about leaving the state for good. The truth is that California is broke. The economy of the state is in shambles.

The official unemployment rate has been sitting above 12 percent for an extended period of time, and poverty is everywhere. For many Californians today, there are very few reasons to stay in the state but a whole lot of reasons to leave: falling housing prices, rising crime, budget cuts, rampant illegal immigration, horrific traffic, some of the most brutal tax rates in the nation, increasing gang violence and the ever present threat of wildfires, mudslides and natural disasters.

The truth is that it is easy to understand why there are now more Americans moving out of California each year than there are Americans moving into the state. California has become a complete and total disaster zone in more ways than one, and an increasing number of Californians are deciding that enough is enough and they are getting out for good.

Sadly, the state of California is facing such a wide array of social, economic, and political problems that it is hard to even document them all. It is really one huge gigantic mess at this point.

Just consider the following facts about what life is like in the state of California today....

Click here to see the facts >

Meredith Whitney: Global Wall Street to Axe 80,000 Jobs

Looks like even Wall Street can't avoid the reality of how bad this ongoing recession is for everyday Americans.

Wall Street Firms to Cut 80,000 Jobs in 18 Months, Whitney Says

Securities firms around the world will cut as many as 80,000 jobs in the next 18 months as revenue growth begins to slow, said Meredith Whitney, the former Oppenheimer & Co. analyst who now runs her own firm.

The reductions, about 10 percent of current levels, will come after 2010 compensation payments, Whitney, 40, said in a report dated Aug. 31 and obtained by Bloomberg News today. The industry’s payouts will be “down dramatically,” said Whitney, who started New York-based Meredith Whitney Group after correctly predicting Citigroup Inc.’s dividend cut in 2007.

“The key product drivers of Wall Street’s revenues and profits over the past decade have been in a structural decline over the past three years,” Whitney said in the report. “2010 marks the first year in many in which Wall Street-centric firms will go through structural changes.”

15,000 in Valley vie for jobs at McDonald's

But don't worry your 401k is safe and "Dear Leader" says its your duty as good little Americans to borrow money to buy useless crap from Chinamart.

The middle class is dead in America and you can thank your elected politicians for selling you out to China and India for campaign donations.

15,000 in Valley vie for jobs at McDonald's

More than 15,000 people hoping to land one of 800 to 1,000 part-time jobs available at Arizona McDonald's poured into Valley restaurants Wednesday to fill out forms and interview with store managers.

The seven-hour on-site hiring campaign was spurred by the popularity of the fast-food chain's expanded McCafe product line. The success of recently released beverages such as the frappe and smoothie has fueled employee growth for McDonald's restaurants in Arizona, area supervisor Jerry Gehrke said.

About 100 people applied in person for entry-level positions at each of the 166 restaurants in metropolitan Phoenix. Most locations had anywhere from three to eight openings, ranging from cooking to operating the cash register to performing janitorial duties. Wages begin at $7.25 per hour and increase depending on an applicant's experience, Gehrke said.

"We are seeing college students, professionals out of the workforce, moms and high-school graduates applying for these jobs," Gehrke said. "It's a little bit unusual to see so much diverse work experience."

In other news on the employment front Harley Davidson employees voted for a new contract, which freezes their pay for seven-years, slashes hundreds of jobs and assigns large volumes of the work to part-time workers, who get no healthcare benefits. If the employees had rejected the deal, Harley has said it would have moved its Wisconsin operations to another state, leaving about 1,350 employees out of work. My question is when did China become the 51st state?

Yes, things are "dire" in the labor market but you don't have to take my word for it. Dire is how the IMF describes the situation. However, the solution is not more borrowing as suggested by the IMF as that is the root of the problem.

Americans forgot that they can't live by borrowing money. But we get it now and if we could only get our leaders to understand this very simple concept then things might get back on track.

U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows, Unemployment Claims Drop- or did it?

When you read the headlines only you miss the really important details.

U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows, Unemployment Claims Drop

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed more than forecast in July and filings for jobless benefits plunged last week, tempering concern the world’s largest economy is slipping back into a recession.

The trade gap shrank 14 percent, the most since February 2009, to $42.8 billion, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The deficit was less than the lowest forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. New applications for unemployment insurance fell by 27,000 to 451,000, the lowest since July 9, according to the Labor Department.

Sounds like some positive news. Right? Here is the real important details I was talking about:

Nine states didn’t file claims data with the Labor Department in Washington because of the Labor Day holiday, a department official told reporters as the figures were released. California and Virginia estimated their claims, and the U.S. government estimated the other seven.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-09/u-s-trade-deficit-narrows-more-than-forecast-as-exports-hit-two-year-high.html

Do you really think that the Government would estimate that more people lost their jobs than what was predicted by the Wall Street Economists?

US job losses are double expected figure

The really scary part of the article is that the revised June numbers were almost 100,000 more than the initial figure. I can understand when the number is off by 10% or 20% but 76% but come on do they really think we are that stupid. Someone is screwing around with numbers either intentionally or the government is even more inept then we all thought.

US job losses are double expected figure
Employers in the US shed twice as many jobs as expected in July, fanning fears that the recovery in the world's largest economy will not see a revival in employment.


The US government said 131,000 jobs were lost overall, mainly due to work finishing for temporary staff hired by the government to conduct its census. But private hiring was also weaker than expected.

Economists polled by Reuters ahead of the data had expected July's non-farm payroll data to show a drop of 65,000 after a fall of 125,000 in June. They forecast that private sector jobs would rise by 90,000, but in the event only 71,000 were added.

At the same time, June's overall drop was revised to a far steeper 221,000.

ITS THE JOBS STUPID

We were told throughout the whole campaign how smart Obama was but every time he opens his mouth he keeps proving how stupid people were for believing him and his advisers. Today the unemployment numbers for May were released and according to him they show that the U.S. Economy is getting stronger.

Md., June 4 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday the gain of 431,000 jobs in May is a sign the U.S. economy is getting stronger, although there will still be ups and downs going forward.

"This report is a sign that our economy is getting stronger by the day," Obama said in remarks to about about 50 workers at a large truck garage in Maryland.

"A lot of businesses that were hit hard during this downturn, they are starting to hire again. Workers who were laid off are starting to get their jobs back," he said.

However, Obama said there would be "ups and downs" ahead.

The Labor Department said on Friday payrolls rose 431,000 as the government added 411,000 workers to conduct the U.S. Census, the largest monthly increase since March 2000 and one that marked a fifth straight month of gains.

But U.S. private employers hired fewer workers than expected in May, just 41,000 after rising 218,000 in April, a setback for the labor market recovery, even as temporary Census hiring pushed overall payrolls growth to its fastest pace in 10 years.

Obama acknowledged that most of the new jobs were the Census positions.

"So these are temporary jobs that are going to last until the fall, and that may be reflected in future jobs reports," he said.

"But even if you put those temporary jobs aside, there's no doubt that we saw another month of private sector job growth, and that is obviously critical, because when businesses are hiring again, people start spending again and that, in turn, gives businesses more and more incentive to grow."

Just in case you don't know we need to create at least 125,000 jobs per month just to keep pace with the growth in population. So creating 41,000 doesn't even cover all the new workers that are added to the economy each month. The following article from the Atlanic is extremely enlightening into how the joblessness will affect America for years to come.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/how-a-new-jobless-era-will-transform-america/7919/

Mortgage Foreclosures Hit Record as Job Losses Strain Budgets

But things are getting better, right Ben?

By Kathleen M. Howley
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- A record share of U.S. mortgages were in foreclosure in the first quarter as job losses caused homebuyers to fall behind on monthly payments, thwarting government efforts to stem property seizures.

The inventory of homes in foreclosure rose to 4.63 percent from 4.58 percent in the fourth quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report today. The combined share of foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies was 14 percent, or about one in every seven U.S. mortgages.

Job losses have strained budgets, making it difficult for households to pay monthly bills, said Jay Brinkmann, the Washington-based trade group’s chief economist. U.S. unemployment in the second half of 2009 -- when people now in foreclosure would have first fallen behind on their payments -- reached the highest levels since 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate declined to 9.7 percent in the first quarter of this year from 10 percent in the last three months of 2009.

“The unemployment rate is the major factor driving the numbers,” Brinkmann said today in an interview. “We’re seeing the states with the biggest unemployment problem, like Ohio, Illinois and Michigan, showing the biggest increases.”

Ten percent of U.S. mortgage holders had payments 30 days or more overdue, on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from 9.47 percent in the previous quarter, Brinkmann said. On a non- adjusted basis, the rate fell to 9.38 percent from 10 percent, possibly an early sign of improvement as job losses abated, he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahBIgAgVMwdg&pos=6

NJ Mom Recognizes Census Worker as Sex Offender

10% unemployment and the Federal government is hiring sex offenders. What a great background check they must have run to allow this to happen.

Economists Exult over Job Gains. Be Wary

It looks like the government is padding the job numbers again. Don't be fooled get informed.

Economists Exult over Job Gains. Be Wary
By Don Bauder

Economists are rhapsodizing this morning (May 7) over April's rise in 290,000 jobs (224,000 after temporary Census workers are excluded). March job gains were revised upward to 230,000 from 162,000. The unemployment rate rose to 9.9% from 9.7% because, said the government, a flood of people entered the workforce. Economists are downplaying the bad news: the underemployment rate, which includes people who can only find part-time jobs and those who have been too discouraged to look for a job in the last four weeks, rose to 17.1% from 16.9%. Of the 15.3 million unemployed, a record 45.9% have been out of work more than half a year. The average workweek rose only 0.1 hour to 34.1 hours. In a healthy economy, this number is 37 hours, according to MarketWatch.

Today's report, in my own opinion, simply does not jibe with Wednesday's report of private sector employment by Automatic Data Processing. This report had private sector jobs rising only 32,000. One statistic that bothers me is the government's birth/death adjustment model. This is a computerized estimate of jobs created by small business that are not captured in standard reporting procedures. Again, this is a computer ESTIMATE -- it is not a count of actual jobs. The government estimated that 188,000 jobs uncounted jobs were created by small business in April -- larger than anything for many months. For example, the March number was 81,000. The Automatic Data Processing report indicated that of the 32,000 job gains in April, a mere 1,000 were in small businesses. Although this is not an apples to apples comparison, admittedly, those two numbers do not add up.

Jobs-jittery Americans Belie Improving Data
John Crudele

Tomorrow, the Labor Department will announce its monthly jobs report for April, a statistic that isn't very important to the general public but is urgent to Wall Street. Experts are predicting that about 190,000 new jobs were created in April, up from 162,000 in March.

After March, April will show job growth, followed by May, June and July. Not too bad, you'd think, except that Americans still seem to be in a funk about the economy, a fact confounding everyone from politicians to professors to retail store managers.

Have Americans been changed forever by the Great Recession? Or, are there other explanations as to why -- according to Thrivent Financial/Kiplinger -- 84 percent of the population is now worried about their finances, despite the alleged economic recovery and the fact that between 80 percent (the unofficial unemployment rate) and 90 percent (the official one) of adult Americans still have jobs?

To be sure, retail sales have improved from last year's levels and even from earlier this year. That was inevitable since 2009 was the dregs for anyone selling anything.

The stock-market bubble has also helped, although Wall Street's jitters of the past few weeks could have shareholders putting their wallets back in their pockets.

The Rutgers survey explains some of the things going on in people's minds -- if you lose your job and know it's damn hard finding another one, you will not be upbeat.

But there are other things screwing with the American psyche. For instance:

* Economists say 150,000 new jobs are necessary each month just to absorb people entering the work force. That figure probably increases during a month like May, when college students are leaving school and trying to find jobs. So growth of 190,000 jobs in April just won't be that impressive.

* About eight million jobs were lost during this recession. So the sort of growth we are achieving is really just a drop that is not going to fill up the bucket very fast. Worse, most of these new jobs are low-paying positions created by the Census Bureau.

* Springtime is when the Labor Department arbitrarily adds jobs to its count for positions it thinks -- but can't prove -- are being created by newly formed companies.

So whatever number the Labor Department comes up with, it's really just a guess. And people simply don't get rich from jobs that are nothing more than a figment of the government's imagination.

* The economic recovery may not be as strong as the government estimates, which aren't very strong in the first place. The nation's gross domestic product growth in this year's first quarter dropped to a 3.2 percent annual rate from 5.7 percent during the final three months of 2009.

That 3.2 percent actually equates to growth of only 0.8 percent from January through March (3.2 percent divided by four quarters). And the 3.2 percent growth is mostly the result of guesswork.

* Increases in income being reported by the government are misleading.

While the US Bureau of Economic Analysis says personal income rose a healthy $36 billion in March, that figure includes $24.9 billion in "transfer" payments -- essentially money that Washington is giving to people in the form of unemployment benefits and other forms of social assistance. About $13 billion of that gain came from jobless benefits alone.

Transfer payments were up just $7.3 billion in February.

People, of course, are more than happy to take the $24.9 billion. But those billions aren't going to make them feel better about their situation or go on spending sprees.

Looking at the Rutgers survey gives us a better idea of what people have been going through.

Today, 70 percent of those surveyed have been looking for work for more than seven months. Back when the original survey was done, just 48 per cent were looking for that length of time.

And more than half of those questioned said they don't think they will find a new job in the near future even though 73 percent said they would be willing to take a pay cut and 77 percent would be willing to change careers.

Obama Blames Jack Frost for High Unemployment

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Monday winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures, which are due to be released on Friday.


"The blizzards that affected much of the country during the last month are likely to distort the statistics. So it's going to be very important ... to look past whatever the next figures are to gauge the underlying trends," Summers said in an interview with CNBC according to a transcript.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0111549320100301?type=marketsNews

How bad are the numbers that the White House is shoveling us this bullshit?

Unemployment rose in 43 states

Unemployment rose in 43 states