Tag Archives: unemployment

Quite a contrast

06 Friday Jan 2023

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Joe Biden (d) [2020 file photo].

Today:

The White House
Washongton, D.C.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2023

Statement by President Joe Biden on the December Jobs Report

Today’s report is great news for our economy and more evidence that my economic plan is working. The unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years. We have just finished the two strongest years of job growth in history. And we are seeing a transition to steady and stable growth that I have been talking about for months. We still have work to do to bring down inflation, and help American families feeling the cost-of-living squeeze. But we are moving in the right direction.

The first two years of my presidency – 2021 and 2022 — were the two strongest years of job growth on record. And in December, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in the last 50 years. Unemployment is near record lows for Black and Hispanic Americans, and the unemployment rate for people with disabilities has never been lower in our country’s history. At the same time, average monthly job gains have come down from over 600,000 a month at the end of last year to closer to 200,000 a month. This moderation in job growth is appropriate, and we should expect it to continue in the months ahead, even as we maintain resilience in our labor market recovery.

These historic jobs and unemployment gains are giving workers more power and American families more breathing room. Real wages are up in recent months, gas prices are down, and we are seeing welcome signs that inflation is coming down as well. It’s a good time to be a worker in America.

We have more work to do, and we may face setbacks along the way, but it is clear that my economic strategy of growing the economy from the bottom up and middle out is working. And we are just getting started. This month we are capping the cost of insulin at $35 per month for seniors. We are lowering Americans’ energy and utility bills. And shovels are hitting the ground all around the country to rebuild our infrastructure, supply chains, and manufacturing here at home. That’s how we build an America we all take pride in, where working families have good jobs and more breathing room, and the economy grows from the bottom up and middle out for the long haul.

###

Leadership matters. Competence matters.

Fancy that

05 Friday Nov 2021

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Joe Biden (D) [2020 file photo].

Today:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
[Percent]
[….]
U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)
Not seasonally adjusted
Oct. 2020 6.6
Sept. 2021 4.6
Oct. 2021 4.3
Seasonally adjusted
Oct. 2020 6.9
June 2021 5.9
July 2021 5.4
Aug. 2021 5.2
Sept. 2021 4.8
Oct. 2021 4.6
[…]

[emphasis added.

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — OCTOBER 2021

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 531,000 in October, and the unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percentage point to 4.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job growth was widespread, with notable job gains in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in manufacturing, and in transportation and warehousing. Employment in public education declined over the month.

[….]

531,000.

Previously:

Keeping it classy (November 3, 2021)

It’s in his nature

16 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by in Roy Blunt, social media, US Senate

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Roy Blunt (r) continues to be…Roy Blunt (r).

Roy Blunt (r) [2016 file photo].

Today:

Senator Roy Blunt @RoyBlunt
Republicans warned that Democrats’ enhanced unemployment benefits would make it harder to get people back into the workforce. That’s exactly what has happened.
1:08 PM · Sep 16, 2021

The is much hilarity in the responses:

Except… that’s not true at all: [….]

You don’t get to pat yourself on the back when you hurt people for no good reason. That you wanted hurting people to have a justification isn’t its own justification.
[….]

Tell me lies… tell me sweet little lies…
[….]

That’s not what happened

1 in 500 American’s has died from Covid

Dead people don’t come back to jobs

If they’re not dead they’re quarantining after exposure, or staying home with their kids who are quarantining after definitely being exposed almost daily at school. Does anyone *not* know someone who has missed work because they either tested positive or had to quarantine?

I’m not buying it. An extra $300 a week is not the issue. That’s basically the equivalent of a $7.50 an hour job for 40 hours a week. Not only that, states who have already terminated the benefit have not seen an increased number of people going to work.

You didn’t care when you were dishing out tax breaks to the rich… but now you’re worried about spending???? Please
[….]

Continued Claims for Unemployment Insurance is the lowest it’s been in over 12 months, below 4M with a work force of over 150M yea, that’s what’s causing the labor shortage.
SMH

No state that terminated expanded unemployment benefits has experienced an uptick in unemployment. This is yet another lie.

Employees will come back to work when employers pay them a living wage.

Missouri stopped them months ago. So what’s the cause now?
Right, just pointing fingers without offering solutions.

Roy Blunt (r) continues to be…Roy Blunt (r).

Funny because where in enhanced unemployment benefits have ended (now everywhere but in many states some weeks ago), persons have not been flocking back to fill jib vacancies. Your simplistic partisan logic fails again!

How many people who have benefited & not back at work have you talked with? Any surveys of these scofflaws?

The National Federation of Independent Unemployed People had no comment.

Not to be blunt Roy, but does your party ever tell the truth? About anything?

No. This has been another edition of Short Answers to Simple Questions.

That’s a lie. Missouri stopped the covid unemployment benefits early. Still I see hundreds of help wanted signs. White Castle has a sign paying $15/hour. Just retire please.

Sorry Roy, wrong again on all counts. The minimum wage isn’t enough to put yourself in contact with the idiots who refuse to vaccinate, it’s that simple

And on and on.

Living wage? What’s that?

12 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by in social media

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Vicky Hartzler (r) [2016 file photo].

“…In order to address workforce shortages across the state, Governor Mike Parson today directed the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR) to notify the U.S. Department of Labor that Missouri will end participation in all federal pandemic-related unemployment insurance programs effective Saturday, June 12 at 11:59 p.m….” – May 11, 2021

Missouri Department of Labor:

Your weekly benefit amount (WBA) is 4 percent of the average of your two highest quarters in the base period. Missouri′s maximum WBA is $320.

Twenty weeks of benefits is the maximum allowed during your benefit year.

And:

….The FPUC program provides that those eligible for at least one dollar of unemployment compensation benefits during the week will receive an additional $300 per week as a federal supplement. Claimants do not need to take any additional action to receive this supplemental payment….

For those interested in doing the math, after removing the federal supplemental unemployment benefit, the maximum benefit from the state is the equivalent of $8.00 an hour for a 40 hour week. The minimum living wage for a single adult in Missouri has been calculated at around $13.72 an hour. Poverty wages are at around $6.13 an hour. Add children, day care, transportation, etc. and you get a very different number.

“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.”

This morning, from Vicky Hartzler (r):

Rep. Vicky Hartzler @RepHartzler
Missouri is ready to take off and boom economically but can’t due to labor shortages and misguided priorities from the leadership in DC.

I applaud @GovParsonMO’s decision in taking the necessary steps to turn our state’s “Help Wanted” signs into proudly “Open for Business.”
[….]
8:24 AM · May 12, 2021

It’s all about the cruelty.

Some of the responses:

Missouri does not have the infrastructure to “boom economically”. Two decades of GOP control of the state legislature has made sure of that.

If $300/wk is causing a job shortage, then those jobs are paying poverty wages. If a job can’t compete with the dole, the job isn’t worth it.

Thank goodness the voters approved the minimum wage increase, right?

yep. those people bringing home a maximum of *$620* a week are really gaming the system.

Wow. Can you imagine hating people that voted you into office this much?

Would either of you work for tips? There is no supplemental PPP included in them. Schedule an actual town hall and talk to those constituents. Do your job for once.

Eat shit you vulture

Why don’t you work for 7.75 an hour!

Previously:

You were expecting something different? (May 11. 2021)

Unemployment – April 2020

08 Friday May 2020

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It’s going to get worse.

This morning the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its April 2020 Employment Situation Summary:

Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million in April, and the unemployment rate rose to 14.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The changes in these measures reflect the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. Employment fell sharply in all major industry sectors, with particularly heavy job losses in leisure and hospitality.

[….]

In April, the unemployment rate increased by 10.3 percentage points to 14.7 percent. This is the highest rate and the largest over-the-month increase in the history of the series (seasonally adjusted data are available back to January 1948). The number of unemployed persons rose by 15.9 million to 23.1 million in April. The sharp increases in these measures reflect the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it…

[….]

In April, unemployment rates rose sharply among all major worker groups. The rate was 13.0 percent for adult men, 15.5 percent for adult women, 31.9 percent for teenagers, 14.2 percent for Whites, 16.7 percent for Blacks, 14.5 percent for Asians, and 18.9 percent for Hispanics. The rates for all of these groups, with the exception of Blacks, represent record highs for their respective series.

[….]

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate) – [April 2020] 14.7%

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force – [April 2020] 22.8%

Thanks for nothing, Donald.

Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): the talking points must have arrived late

10 Thursday Jul 2014

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Previously:

Bureau of Labor Statistics – June jobs report (July 3, 2014)

[….]

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) has yet to take to Twitter to highlight the positive news:

We’re not holding our breath.

[….]

Heh. We’ll, Representative Hartzler (r) finally did comment yesterday via Twitter:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

June jobs report sadly showed 49 out of the past 50 months more people DROPPED OUT of job search than found a job. 12% unemployment really. 6:46 AM – 9 Jul 2014

That’s a reference to U-6, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics “alternative measure of labor utilization” which includes “Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers”. U-3, which is the “official unemployment rate”, is currently 6.1%.

Representative Hartzler’s (r) tweet prompted a response:

hungryprof ‏@hungryprof

@RepHartzler The U-6 rate was 17% in 2009, it’s 12% now. 6:58 AM – 9 Jul 2014

Uh, we already knew that. Representative Hartzler (r) probably does, too. The spin manufactured through the republican party hierarchy probably doesn’t allow for acknowledging facts like that.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides easy access to historical data sets. The following graph shows the U-6 rate from January 2001 (when George W. Bush took office as President) through June of 2014. The red line indicates January 2009, when Barack Obama took office as President.

U-6 from January 2001 to present. Historical data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

One might note that the long term trend of U-6 during the Obama Administration is down. One might also note that there was an uptick during the first term of the George W. Bush administration and then a catastrophic rise at the end of the second term as the economy collapsed. The spin manufactured through the republican party hierarchy probably doesn’t allow for acknowledging facts like that.

Representative Hartzler (r) continued, via Twitter:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

7 bad numbers in the June #JobsReport [….] 2:31 PM – 9 Jul 2014

This also prompted a reply (from someone else):

Cody Welton ‏@acoupstick 16h

.@RepHartzler Forbes has a bit of a different take: http://www.forbes.com/sites/sa… … 2:54 PM – 9 Jul 2014

Sigh. Regurgitating republican spin isn’t as easy as it used to be.

You’ve just got to love social media.

 

Well, would you look at that….

05 Friday Oct 2012

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The latest unemployment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)

Seasonally adjusted

Sept. 2012 –  7.8%

Sept. 2011 – 9.0

Not seasonally adjusted

Sept. 2012 –  7.6%

Sept. 2011 – 8.8

[emphasis added]

republicans has a sad.

We’re anxiously awaiting a Tweet from Vicky Hartzler (r), like this one from August 2012:

Vicky Hartzler ‏@VickyHartzler

Yesterday’s unemployment rate came out–8.3% making it now 41 months above 8%. Time to put a job creator in the White House! 9:34 AM – 4 Aug 12

There’s already a job creator in the White House.

Update:

From the White House.