The Jobless Disaster in America
We hear a lot of talk about how recovery is near or slow, some places know little about it, San Jose comes to mind, but the real reality is 12 million remain jobless, their lives devastated as time moves on and on. Each passing month, it is harder to correct it. Some call it a modern disaster. If your working, you have no idea the problem is this bad and you don't really care since it does not impact you. The jobless rate is just one facet, there are 48 million people on food stamps or 15% of the total population. That is staggering. If they are on food stamps they are either jobless, underemployed or not making more than $25K a year. From 1970 to 2000, this rate was only 8%!! Think about this. In just ten years, it went up another 40%. The numbers are not over as there are 11 million on Social Security, five million were added since 2008. For many, getting disability is another form of unemployment-just for a different reason. Unlike unemployment that does end, disability goes on and on and on.
Employers are not helping matters because they are shortening their work week, asking employees to take unpaid leave or reducing hours and pay. The unemployment numbers NEVER account for those on disability or on leave from work from whatever reason. The fulltime jobs have not increased but part-time jobs have which allows employers to reduce benefits or none at all.
The jobless number is 14.5% and includes eight million as part-time, 10 million who have given up and those sporadically looking for work. Even if you remove those who have given up, the unemployment is more at 9.8%.
In January 2013, the government indicated 157,000 jobs were created, wow, impressive for the nearly 13 million looking. Talk about bad odds! Now you know why 10 million don't look. The government failed to tell you that 2.8 million jobs vanished, which is worse than the 2.6 million lost in January 2012. For those who find jobs, they are low pay, fewer hours, less benefits.
So, the whole US economy plods along with numbers that are like a placebo for the real dire condition.
