Unemployment Discussion

[banca rotta]

True. Those "official" numbers don't count a lot of things.

--A person with an accounting degree tending bar because he can't find anything in his field is not unemployed.

--A person who has been unemployed so long that he's just quit looking for employment is not unemployed.

Exactly!!! The "real rate" is about 17% if you include the underemployment rate you mention. There are those who are shoveling sh1t that deserve better then that, but can't find a better job with better pay.


Some here argue that "ObamaPelosi care" are top priority. Too bad for them they have it all wrong.

I think this subject is much more important. Without this the other won't matter. People need to work period! They also need to work at real jobs, not the stimulas garbage that Obama claims he created or saved.

Help the small business and flip the bird to everyone else, especially Wall Street.

[OnTheRocks]

I met an old guy in his 80's and he kept going back to Thailand as the American Dollar went a very long ways there. I think he said he could get a meal for 80 cents, live like a king for $20 a day.

That sounds pretty good right about now

[ForTheBest]

I guess I'll die at my desk. Nobody born in the mid 60s or after has any real prospect for retiring comfortably -- unless, of course, he worked for the fedgov or was very wealthy during the working years.

I, unfortunately, won't even get to die at my desk. LOL. I lost my fedgov job of 5 years a few months ago when they did away with my department. And since I'm 60, I'm too old to get hired at most places and too young to hang it up and become a burden on society.

What makes me laugh at myself most is that it took me till I was 55 to succumb to the "get a govt job, it's safe" promise, only to find myself dumped at 60... in a state where former federal employees aren't eligible for the same kinds of unemployment perks (job retraining, medical insurance subsidies, etc) as everybody else who lives here. Gotta love it!

[Penny Less]

ForTheBest what state are you in?

[ForTheBest]

ForTheBest what state are you in?

Massachusetts...probably the best place to live right now if you're on unemployment.

It's the only state providing a Cobra subsidy above and beyond the one that the federal government currently provides. So if you were working for an in-state employer when you lost your job and you're eligible for Cobra, you end up paying as little as 7% of the total Cobra premium. That's what I would be paying if I hadn't been a federal employee. (Even though my job was in MA, the fed gov't isn't considered to be an in-state employer.)

Since MA is also, I think, the only state that currently requires everybody to have health insurance, that's probably the reason for the extra Cobra subsidy... cheaper for the state to subsidize Cobra premiums than to foot the whole bill for coverage (which it does for those who can't afford to pay for insurance).

All of this is probably going to eventually bankrupt the state, of course, but that's a subject for another thread.

[Intoodeep80]

What I do not understand at all, is how gas prices have gone up and why the stock market is fluctuating around 10,000 ?!!?

Things havent and are not getting better yet!! When gas prices spiked, I told my friends I hope it keeps on going up again, so demand dwindles and the stupid stock market and oil companies screw themselves again Of course, unfortunately, we get the end 'screwing' dont we?

Anyways, Im in Metro Detroit and it has got to be the worst here, since the big 3 are stationed here. A lot of the engineers/line workers at the big 3 are out of jobs permanently, and stores that have been around forever are now closed. It is a domino effect (auto worker loses their job, stops going to mom and pop place for lunch, stops banking at so and so bank, stops buying gas at xyz gas station, stops shopping at store next to auto plant, etc), and it keeps on going and going...

I cant take much more. I consider myself to be lucky as well, as the employer ive been with for 12 years is pretty solid but we are perilously slow. I do work another part time job that is also pretty solid. It is not slow there and if I lose my FT job, I can easily take up FT there.

Ever since this all started, I decided it was best for me to keep as many avenues open as possible, should I lose my FT job.

[HRx]

I made this thread a STICKY since it's a topic many of us are/will face and is a major national issue.

[nc73]

eh I'm not worried. I've got relatives up the ying yang that will help me if the need arises. I feel so sorry for all the people without help.

[AngelinaCat]

Hi HRx. Thank you.

[banca rotta]

I, unfortunately, won't even get to die at my desk. LOL. I lost my fedgov job of 5 years a few months ago when they did away with my department. And since I'm 60, I'm too old to get hired at most places and too young to hang it up and become a burden on society.
What makes me laugh at myself most is that it took me till I was 55 to succumb to the "get a govt job, it's safe" promise, only to find myself dumped at 60... in a state where former federal employees aren't eligible for the same kinds of unemployment perks (job retraining, medical insurance subsidies, etc) as everybody else who lives here. Gotta love it!

Trust me while I don't know you personally you most likely aren't a burden. You didn't ask for this. It just found you.

The burdens on society choose to be in your situation. Obama's base is full of them and he's their spokesman. They can be poor people or wealthy people, doesn't matter. They are burdens, NOT YOU!!!

[banca rotta]

Anyone as suspicious as I am in why suddenly the jobless numbers for November went down to 11,000?

Did things suddenly turn around that fast where we had to layoff much fewer workers?

Maybe they "fudged the numbers" just like FICO has several credit scores.

I am very happy that fewer Americans lost there jobs, don't get me wrong. I have never seen such a small number after months of very large numbers.

By January they will probably revise it to 111,000 since they revise the previous months all the time.

[helpmeout]

Anyone as suspicious as I am in why suddenly the jobless numbers for November went down to 11,000?

Did things suddenly turn around that fast where we had to layoff much fewer workers?

Maybe they "fudged the numbers" just like FICO has several credit scores.

I am very happy that fewer Americans lost there jobs, don't get me wrong. I have never seen such a small number after months of very large numbers.

By January they will probably revise it to 111,000 since they revise the previous months all the time.

Jobs are usually the last to recover after a recession starts getting better. Which makes it look like it isn't getting better. Not to mention, this is the holiday season where people spend more money. I think you are reading too much into the recent number.

[nc73]

It will go back up.

[banca rotta]

It will go back up.

I sure hope it doesn't but I know it will since no jobs are being created. Stimulas and job creation are two different things.

The sooner everyone realizes this the better off we will be. Neither Obama nor his base understands this which is why the Obama base will be the first to be flushed down deep in the cesspool once the dollar totally collapses.

High inflation combined with 30% to 40% unemployment will be the result.

[helpmeout]

I sure hope it doesn't but I know it will since no jobs are being created. Stimulas and job creation are two different things.

The sooner everyone realizes this the better off we will be. Neither Obama nor his base understands this which is why the Obama base will be the first to be flushed down deep in the cesspool once the dollar totally collapses.

High inflation combined with 30% to 40% unemployment will be the result.

You can't blame this completely on Obama. Bush left him a disaster.