Million Americans Are Unemployedheres The Story Of The Job Seekers Behind The Numbers
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On Thursday, the United States Department of Labor announced that over 1.3 million Americans filed initial unemployment claims last week. This report marks the 17th consecutive week of 1-million-plus unemployment claims. About 51 million people have filed for unemployment benefits since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. This doesnt include the millions of others whove finished collecting benefits, given up looking for a job or have reluctantly taken a position far below their prior compensation level just to make ends meet.
Now, all we ever hear about is the data behind the jobs crisis. However, we hardly ever hear the personalized stories of the Americans behind the statistics. Here are some of the testimonies of the people who are gallantly trying to find a new job against all odds during this very unforgiving job market.
Donna Lauria doesnt possess a college degree, but found her way into Prudentialone of the largest insurance and financial services firms in the world. She spent decades at the Newark, New Jersey-based organization, working her way up the corporate ladder and earned roughly $200k in salary, bonuses and benefits.
Solutions For Creating More Us Jobs
A variety of options for creating jobs exist, but these are strongly debated and often have tradeoffs in terms of additional government debt, adverse environmental impact, and impact on corporate profitability. Examples include infrastructure investment, tax reform, healthcare cost reduction, energy policy and carbon price certainty, reducing the cost to hire employees, education and training, deregulation, and trade policy. Authors Bittle & Johnson of Public agenda explained the pros and cons of 14 job creation arguments frequently discussed, several of which are summarized below by topic. These are hotly debated by experts from across the political spectrum.
Unemployment And Racialized Canadians
Statistics Canada defines racialized Canadians as persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.Though racialized Canadians participated in the labour force at a rate higher than non-racialized Canadians, 9.2 per cent of racialized Canadians were unemployed in 2016, compared to 7.3 per cent of non-racialized Canadians. Arab Canadians had an 85 per cent higher unemployment rate and Black Canadians a 71 per cent higher rate than non-racialized Canadians gaps in unemployment that were consistent with 2006 census results. In 2016, racialized women had the highest unemployment rate, at 9.6 per cent. While non-racialized women had a lower unemployment rate than non-racialized men, unemployment among racialized women was higher than among racialized men .
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Difference Between The Unemployment And Jobs Reports
The unemployment rate and figures from the jobs report don’t always tell the same story because they are taken from two different surveys.
The unemployment rate is taken from the household survey of individuals. It describes who is employed and who isn’t based on their responses.
The number of jobs added is taken from the establishment report, more commonly called the nonfarm payroll report. This survey of businesses describes how many jobs were created or lost by industry.
The number of unemployed doesn’t match the number of jobs lost because these reports are taken from completely different sources. Those discrepancies are expected, and the estimates are revised each month as more data comes in.
How Millions Of Jobless Americans Can Afford To Ditch Work
One of the more insidious myths this year was that young people didnât want to work because they were getting by just fine on government aid. People had too much money, went the narrative.
Only trouble is, the numbers donât back it up.
Instead, early retirement â whether forced by the pandemic or made possible otherwise â is playing a big role in Americaâs evolving labor market.
People have left the workforce for myriad reasons in the past two years â layoffs, health insecurity, child care needs, and any number of personal issues that arose from the disruption caused by the pandemic. But among those who have left and are not able to â or donât want to â return,the vast majority are older Americans who accelerated their retirement.
Earlier this month, ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said the strong stock market along with soaring home prices âhas given some higher income people options. We already saw a large portion of the Boomer workforce retiring. And theyâre in a better position now.â
Last month, there were 3.6 million more Americans who had left the labor force and said they didnât want a job compared with November 2019, says Aaron Sojourner, a labor economist and professor at the University of Minnesotaâs Carlson School of Management.
Older Americans, age 55 and up, accounted for whopping 90% of that increase.
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A0: Summary Of Employment Unemployment And Economic Inactivity For People Below State Pension Age
Labour market summary for people below state pension age. Estimates in this table follow the incremental increase in the female state pension age each quarter. These estimates are not the headline labour force survey estimates – they are shown at Tables A02 SA and A02 NSA. This table is updated four times a year in February, May, August and November. These estimates are sourced from the Labour Force Survey, a survey of households.
What It Means To Be Underemployed
The official unemployment rate shows the number of jobless adults who were actively looking for work within the past four weeks, as a percentage of the total number of workers in the labor force. But it doesnt distinguish part-time jobs from full-time jobs or reveal anything about the quality of those jobs. In fact, the unemployment rate ignores millions of underemployed Americans whose jobs dont match their skill level, education or availability to work.
Underemployment is a broad term that generally refers to three types of workers
- High-skilled employees with low-skilled jobs
- Part-time workers who want full-time jobs
- Skilled workers with low-paying jobs
While these workers technically have jobs, they dont have the opportunity to contribute as much as they can to society. For example, someone with a law degree is underemployed if he cant find a job at a law firm and hes forced to work as a shoe salesman.
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What Is The Current Unemployment
The unemployment rate in compared to 3.5% the same time last year.
A total of 712,000 workers filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week that ended 6 March, 42,000 less than the week before. However, last week’s numbers, which were revised upwards, saw new claims rise in total by 28,000. The jump in the week ending in 27 February was blamed on the winter storms in Texas.
The reduction in first-time state unemployment claims was matched by a nearly equal rise in first time claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance , which covers the self-employed, gig workers, part-timers and others who are not able to receive regular state unemployment benefits. The US Labor Department data registered 478,001 new PUA claims, up 41,863.
Your reminder that the official unemployment rate doesn’t include people who have given up looking for work, includes people who are working part-time who need full-time jobs, and doesn’t even mention how many are working in jobs that don’t pay them enough to live on.
Robert Reich
How Many People Are Unemployed Now
The most recent unemployment rate – for January to March, when most of the restrictions were still in place – was 4.8%, according to the Office for National Statistics .
The that means about one in 20 people who want a job can’t find one.
That’s more than at the start of the pandemic.
However, despite lockdown, the unemployment rate has fallen slightly since the autumn.
This has surprised most economists, who were expecting unemployment to be much higher.
It is partly because businesses have become better at coping with lockdowns, as well as the government spending billions of pounds supporting jobs.
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What To Watch For
The Labor Departments December jobs report is set to be released Friday and should provide a broader picture of the job market, but it wont capture the impact of the latest Covid surge, Moodys Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi wrote in a weekend research note. Economists forecast the U.S. added about 422,000 jobs last month, compared to 210,000 in November, but the Labor Department also surveys around the 12th of each month, meaning it will take a few more weeks before omicrons economic impact is reflected in the data, he said.
Figure : Following Large Falls Over The Coronavirus Pandemic The Unemployment Rates For Men And Women Continue To Show Signs Of Recovery
UK economic status rates by sex, seasonally adjusted, cumulative change from December 2019 to February 2020, for each period up to October to December 2021
Young people have been particularly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with the employment rate decreasing and the unemployment and economic inactivity rates increasing by more than seen for those aged 25 years and over. During the last three-month period, however, there was an increase in the employment rate and a decrease in the unemployment rate for young people to below pre-coronavirus pandemic rates . The inactivity rate for young people also decreased compared with the previous three-month period.
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Effect Of Disability Recipients On Labor Force Participation Measures
The number of people receiving Social Security disability benefits increased from 7.1 million in December 2007 to 8.7 million in April 2012, a 22% increase. Recipients are excluded from the labor force. Economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley estimated this explained as much as 0.5 of the 2.0 percentage point decline in the U.S. labor-force participation rate during the period.
Are There Signs Of The Job Market Getting Better
The ONS said that the latest figures show “early signs” of a recovery in the jobs market.
There was a rise in the number of vacancies, to the highest level since the pandemic began.
Some businesses, like restaurants and bars, now say they are struggling to find the workers they need to reopen.
The number of people being made redundant has also been falling, though it is still higher than it was before the pandemic began.
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Difficulty Covering Usual Household Expenses
The Pulse Survey asks adult respondents if their household had difficulty paying for usual expenses such as food, rent or mortgage, car payments, medical expenses, or student loans in the last seven days. Table 3 shows the estimated number and percent of adults reporting that it was somewhat or very difficult for their household to pay for their usual expenses in the last seven days.
| TABLE 3 |
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Why There Are So Many Underemployed Workers
There are many reasons why workers cant find the jobs that they want or that theyre qualified to perform. Underemployment becomes an issue when the supply of certain jobs is lower than the demand for those positions. An economic downturn can also lead to underemployment. In a recession, for example, workers who lose their high-skilled, high-paying jobs may have to take up part-time jobs.
Technological advancements can also raise the underemployment rate. New technology and automation may eliminate the need for some workers. After theyre laid off, displaced workers may need to find low-paying jobs until they can acquire new skills. Technological change and offshore outsourcing are two reasons why the manufacturing industry has been in decline for decades.
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Many Americans Who Lost Their Jobs During The Pandemic Arent Actively Job Searching
More than half of Americans who became unemployed during the pandemic say they are either somewhat active, not very active, or are not active at all in looking for work. Just under half report that they are strongly active in their job search.
Two-thirds that lost their job and remain unemployed do not expect tobeback at workfull time before the start of the new year. One in three are not expecting to return before Q2 2022.
In 4 Americans Are Jobless Or Earning Poverty
Official government figures show that unemployment around the U.S. has fallen sharply since peaking at nearly 15% in April as the coronavirus was shuttering businesses left and right. Yet the jobless rate as depicted in headlines offers a skewed picture of employment today, failing to capture the real financial pressure bearing down on millions of Americans, according to a new study.
In October, more than 1 in 4 workers were either unemployed or working for poverty-level wages, according to an analysis of government data from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity . By comparison, the October jobless rate stood at 6.9%, down from 14.7% in April as workers regained jobs or gave up searching for work.
Gene Ludwig, who heads the nonprofit think tank and is also founder and CEO of IBM’s Promontory Financial Group, said he developed what he calls the “true rate of unemployment” to underscore economic ailments that aren’t visible in official government statistics. His figure incorporates both jobless workers people who were actively searching for work in the past month as well as adults who are earning below $20,000 a year, or below the poverty line.
At the same time, the labor market “just isn’t delivering” for many workers, she said, adding, “It’s good to have an idea of the scope of that.
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What’s Next For The Unemployed
At this point, some jobless people may need to find work out of desperation, even if it means having to scramble for childcare or put their health at risk. And that’s downright unfortunate. But at this point, it doesn’t look like lawmakers will reinstate unemployment benefits for those who have recently seen it run out.
Similarly, it doesn’t look like a fourth stimulus check is in the cards for 2022. While the number of new jobless claims has risen in recent weeks, the economy is still in a much better place now than it was back when the American Rescue Plan was signed into law. And so those who are banking on another stimulus round may be in for a big disappointment.
Employment Insurance And Minimum Wage
There is some evidence that the natural or average level of frictional unemployment increased in the 1960s and 1970s, not only because of demographic changes but also because of changes in social legislation. In particular, the major increases in the generosity of unemployment insurance in 1971 are said by some critics to have induced higher unemployment. However, there is little consensus on the effects of employment insurance on the unemployment rate.
Some economists have also pointed to higher minimum wages as leading to more difficulty for the relatively unskilled in obtaining both work and on-the-job training. Lack of on-the-job training can make things especially difficult for new entrants to the labour force, particularly the young. Youth unemployment rates have always been higher than the average and it is hardly surprising that initial and early job searches are often more extensive.
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Many Jobless Workers Have Been Left In The Lurch
Throughout the summer, there was a lot of focus on states that were pulling the $300 weekly boost to jobless benefits ahead of schedule. But many people who lost that extra $300 bump are still eligible for their regular state benefits. And while they’re getting paid a lot less, there’s at least some money coming in.
On the other hand, millions of Americans saw their jobless aid get cut off completely — and at a time when inflation is making everyday expenses even costlier. Unfortunately, many Americans were living paycheck to paycheck before losing their jobs. So some people who have lost unemployment benefits also don’t have any savings to dip into while they look for work.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers were convinced that once enhanced unemployment ran out in early September, we’d see a surge of job applicants and new hires. The logic there was that many jobless people were simply biding their time, collecting their benefits, and not making an effort to find work.
But so far, that theory seems to have been disproven because the number of new hires hasn’t soared over the past month following the end of that federal aid. In fact, some economists firmly believe that factors like health concerns and a lack of affordable childcare options have been keeping people out of the labor force more so than unemployment benefits.
The Status Of Us Jobs
- More Workers Quit Than Ever: A record number of Americans more than 4.5 million people voluntarily left their jobs in November.
- Jobs Report: The American economy added 210,000 jobs in November, a slowdown from the prior month.
- Analysis: The number of new jobs added in November was below expectations, but the report shows that the economy is on the right track.
- Jobless Claims Plunge: Initial unemployment claims for the week ending Nov. 20 fell to 199,000, their lowest point since 1969.
That is to say, a similar decline in workers desire to pursue jobs matters more when there are plenty of jobs to go around, which is increasingly the case as the economy reopens.
In other research on the expanded jobless benefits, Peter Ganong of the University of Chicago Harris School and five co-authors found a smaller decrease in the inclination to search for jobs than earlier research would have predicted. In other words, those $600 weekly supplements didnt decrease employment very much.
But those were circumstances that may no longer apply.
The goal of government should be to get everyone back to work as soon as possible while continuing to provide economic support to workers who have not gone back to work yet, Mr. Ganong said. Those two things were not in tension in 2020, and they are in tension in 2021. All of those things that made 2020 special are receding, so we now face a more traditional set of trade-offs.
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