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.
Effects Of Healthcare Reform
CBO estimated in December 2015 that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would reduce the labor supply by approximately 2 million full-time worker equivalents by 2025, relative to a baseline without the law. This is driven by the law’s health insurance coverage expansions plus taxes and penalties. With access to individual marketplaces, fewer persons are dependent on health insurance offered by employers.
Table 2 Us Unemployment Rate By Race Gender And Age September 2020 To September 2021
On Friday, President Biden touted steady progress, widespread improvement, and increased employment over the first eight months of his presidency. The president pointed out that the unemployment rate for Black workers, in September, was below 8% for the first time in 17 months. However, the unemployment rate for Black workers remains 3.1 percentage points higher than the national average and 1.9 percentage points above its level in February 2020. There is still progress to be made in the economic recovery to return Black workers to their pre-pandemic employment levels. But the goal should not be solely a return to pre-pandemic levels of employment, a level that has historically been higher than the national average. The goal should be to shift labor dynamics and end systemic and structural racism and discrimination that have led to the racial disparities in employment that we see today.
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Us Weekly Jobless Claims Hit 17
A hiring sign is seen at the register of Burger Boy restaurant, as many restaurant businesses face staffing shortages in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud
- Summary
- Weekly jobless claims fall 29,000 to 348,000
- Continuing claims decrease 79,000 to 2.820 million
- Mid-Atlantic factory activity slows in August
WASHINGTON, Aug 19 – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a 17-month low last week, pointing to another month of robust job growth, though surging COVID-19 infections pose a risk to the labor market recovery.
The weekly unemployment claims report from the Labor Department on Thursday, the most timely data on the economy’s health, also showed the number of people on state jobless rolls dropped in early August to levels last seen in mid-March 2020, when the economy almost ground to a halt amid mandatory business closures aimed at slowing the first wave of COVID-19 cases.
The labor market’s prospects were boosted by other data showing a measure of manufacturing employment in the mid-Atlantic region rose to a record high this month and factories increased hours for workers. But the pace of growth in factory output slowed for a fourth straight month amid scarce raw materials and a shift in spending to services from goods.
The dollar gained versus a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices rose.
GOOD OMEN FOR HIRING
With Only 194000 Jobs Added Septembers Jobs Report Disappoints
The Bureau of Labor Statistics , released last week, showed a decrease of 0.4 percentage points in the U.S. unemployment rate, from 5.2% in August to 4.8% in September. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 194,000 in September, compared to a monthly average of 561,000, and the number of unemployed people fell by 710,000.
The number of marginally attached workers increased by 167,000 and the number of discouraged workers increased by 58,000. The uptick in marginally attached and discouraged workers suggests that the official unemployment rate understates how many workers are currently having trouble finding jobs. Given this difficulty, it is not surprising that the labor force participation rate has remained static, with BLS reporting that the rate has remained within a narrow range of 61.4% to 61.7% since June 2020. Likewise, the number of workers who are part-time for economic reasons , meaning workers who would like to be full-time but have had their hours cut or who cannot find full-time jobs, remained largely unchanged compared to last month. Finally, the number of people not currently in the labor force but who want a job has also remained largely unchanged.
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The Unemployment Figures In Detail
The total number of unemployed is 8.4 million, lower than July’s 8.7 million. The number of long-term unemployed dropped to 3.2 million. A smaller number, 2.1 million, lost jobs within the last five weeks. This number declined by 174,000 from July’s 2.3 million.
The real unemployment rate was 8.8% in August, 0.4 percentage points lower than in July. This alternate measure of unemployment, known as U-6, gives a broader definition of unemployment. It includes people who would like a job but haven’t looked for one in the past month. It also includes those who are underemployed and marginally attached.
The real unemployment rate contains 392,000 discouraged workers, down from 507,000 in July and 617,000 in June. Discouraged workers are people who have given up looking for work but would take a job if offered. They are not counted in the unemployment rate because they haven’t looked for a job in the past four weeks.
The labor force participation rate was 61.7%there was no change from July. The labor force doesn’t include those who haven’t looked for a job in the past month. Some would like a job, but others dropped out of the labor force for different reasons. They may have retired, gone back to school, or had a baby.
History Of Unemployment In Canada
Unemployment has risen on average since the mid-1960s, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of the labour force . Annual average unemployment rates of 3 to 5 per cent were common before 1958 and from 1964 to 1969. From 1958 to 1963 and in the early 1970s, 5 to 7 per cent rates prevailed.
Over most of the post-1975 period, employment also grew, but the labour force grew even more rapidly so that the number and fraction that were unemployed rose. During the recession of the early 1980s , the unemployment rate jumped. In August 1981, employment declined, as did labour-force participation and the fraction of the working-age population that was employed . The unemployment rate rose steadily over the period to December 1982, reaching 13.1 per cent. This is thought to be the highest rate of unemployment since the Great Depression, when the unemployment rate peaked at 19.3 per cent. The unemployment rate was gradually reduced to about 7 per cent in the late 1980s, but rose sharply again during the recession of the early 1990s, peaking at 12.1 per cent in November 1992.
After the recession of the early 1990s , employment recovered slowly, and, as a result, a drop in the unemployment rate was delayed until 1994. Strong employment growth from 1997 to 2000 brought the unemployment rate down to 6.8 per cent in January 1999. Unemployment spiked again briefly in the early 2000s, before resuming its decline in September 2003.
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How Does The Bls Collect Data
Bureau of Labor Statistics field economists are very trained workers who work day and night and work according to the given detailed points instructions on data collection techniques. BLS economists use different methods in collecting authentic data and obtain data from different Occupational Requirements Survey respondents.
Unemployment benefits
When you lose your job unemployment benefits give you temporary income. This money will help you cover the damage which was caused by losing a job. The earnings which were gone will help you pay your expenses or any dues during the time when you search for a new job. These unemployment benefits are not takes based on financial need. While they pay you money its your duty to get back to work as soon as possible. They are paying the people since March.
How to apply for Unemployment Benefits:
You can apply for unemployment benefits online. You can use your laptop or phone to sign up for these benefits. Although you might have to wait for a little longer than usual due to covid. Check out this Information on reasonable accommodation which is available for unemployment-benefits for people with disabilities.
Why Is There Such A Big Gap In The Data
The first thing to understand is how each figure is derived. The 10.1 million unemployed data point comes from a survey of 60,000 households the Census Bureau collects each month. All the adults in the household are asked a series of questions about whether they are employed full or part time, if they are looking for work or if they have given up and stopped looking for a job. To be considered officially unemployed, someone must have searched for a job within the past month.
In normal times, this monthly survey works pretty well, but these are not normal times. Response rates to this survey have fallen during the pandemic, and low-income families that have been hit hardest by the pandemic and job losses have been the least likely to respond, census researchers found.
Another unusual challengeof this pandemic is a lot of people arent sure if they are truly unemployed or just on an extended absence from work. The Labor Department has been open about a misclassification error in which some people who should have been marked as temporarily unemployed were instead classified as employed but absent from work for other reasons. This issue makes the unemployment figures look betterthan they are.
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Jobs Created By Presidential Term
Job creation is reported monthly and receives significant media attention, as a proxy for the overall health of the economy. Comparing job creation by President involves determining which starting and ending month to use, as recent Presidents typically begin in January, the fourth month into the last fiscal year budgeted by their predecessor. Journalist Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post explained in 2020 that economists debate which month to use as the base for counting job creation, between either January of the first term or February. The Washington Post uses the February jobs level as the starting point. For example, for President Obama, the computation takes the 145.815 million jobs of February 2017 and subtracts the 133.312 million jobs of February 2009 to arrive at a 12.503 million job creation figure. Using this method, the five Presidents with the most job gains were: Bill Clinton 22.745 Ronald Reagan 16.322 Barack Obama 12.503 Lyndon B. Johnson 12.338 and Jimmy Carter 10.117. Four of the top five were Democrats.
Writing in The New York Times, Steven Rattner compared job creation in the last 35 months under President Obama with the first 35 months of President Trump . President Obama added 227,000 jobs/month on average versus 191,000 jobs/month for Trump, nearly 20% more. The unemployment rate fell by 2 percentage points under Obama versus 1.2 points under Trump.
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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Demographics And Employment Trends
Employment trends can be analyzed by any number of demographic factors individually or in combination, such as age, gender, educational attainment, and race. A major trend underlying the analysis of employment numbers is the aging of the white workforce, which is roughly 70% of the employment total by race as of November 2016. For example, the prime working age white population declined by 4.8 million between December 2007 and November 2016, roughly 5%, while non-white populations are increasing. This is a major reason why non-white and foreign-born workers are increasing their share of the employed. However, white prime-age workers have also had larger declines in labor force participation than some non-white groups, for reasons not entirely clear. Such changes may have important political implications.
The United States Has Not Had Reliable Data During The Pandemic To Answer A Very Basic Question: How Many Americans Are Out Of Work
The United States currently has a lot of people out of work even more than during the worst point of the Great Recession. But exactly how many people are unemployed right now is a surprisingly tricky question to answer. And some economists think the official count is far too low.
The official number of unemployed Americans is 10.1 million, according to the Labor Department. That statistic comes from the monthly jobs report that the Labor Department puts out the first Friday of each month, which shows the official unemployment rate at the moment is 6.3 percent.
But theres another government data source that indicates a much higher number of unemployed. Every Thursday, the Labor Department reports how many people are receiving jobless aid from the government. The latest data indicates 18.3 million people were receiving weekly unemployment payments through Jan. 30. That figure fluctuates a bit week to week, but it has hovered closeto 20 million for the past few months. Top White House officials often cite this number when they talk about the economic pain the country is still facing and make the case for another round of aid, including more stimulus payments to individuals.
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Blackwhite And Hispanicwhite Inequality Persists Amid Labor Market Recovery
EPI analyzes state unemployment rates by race and ethnicity, and racial/ethnic unemployment rate gaps, on a quarterly basis to generate a sample size large enough to create reliable estimates of unemployment rates by race and ethnicity at the state level. We report estimates only for states for which the sample size of these subgroups is large enough to create an accurate estimate. For this reason, the number of states included in our maps and data tables varies based on the analysis performed. The following analysis contains data on the first two quarters of 2021.
Our analysis of first- and second-quarter 2021 data finds a still-uneven recovery picking up its pace due in large part to the widespread availability of the COVID-19 vaccine. Recovery in the labor market has not brought with it racial equity, however the Hispanicwhite unemployment ratio rose from 1.6 in 2020Q4 to nearly 1.7 in 2021Q2, while the Blackwhite unemployment ratio returned to its historical trend of 2.0. That is, although the overall unemployment rate fell, Hispanic workers were still nearly 70% more likely to face unemployment than white workers, while Black workers were twice as likely to face unemployment as white workers. This suggests that a return toward normalcy alone will not be enough to close racial gaps in the labor market.
Openly Sharing Experiences Of Being Ltu
In addition to understanding obstacles, the other significant dimension of support was the foregrounding of the fact that LTU almost invariably generates difficult negative emotions, undermines identities, and makes social-emotional support hard to come by. Sociological support explicitly encouraged jobseekers to share difficult experiences and negative emotions with coaches and peers.
When openly sharing their difficult experiences, jobseekers were relieved to learn that many others are in the same boat, a phrase that was repeated by many interviewees. It is only through candid conversations that people can recognize the nature of the experience, and which in turn creates the possibility for mutual emotional support and reduces the experience of emotional isolation.
Sharon contrasted her experience with the ICT to other employment support settings:
A big barrier to connecting with other is that facilitators dont want you to talk about the negative feelings and experiences in this process. Anytime you say how bad you feel or how bad your situation is, you get shushed. I think they think they are helping by only talking about the happy stuff however, in some ways they are making it worse. You need an outlet for that negative junk and it helps to know you are not alone.
In other words, when you are with others in the same boat, there is no need to beg, mask, or fake.
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