Unemployment Drops to 7.8%

This is the lowest unemployment percentage in the last 44 months.

"The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent last month, dropping below 8 percent for the first time in nearly four years. The rate declined because more people found work, a trend that could have an impact on undecided voters in the final month before the presidential election. 

The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 114,000 jobs in September. The economy also created 86,000 more jobs in July and August than first estimated. Wages rose in September and more people started looking for work."

We're not nearly out of the woods. It's been a long, hard slog - I'd argue that had it not been for Republican obstructionism for the last three and a half years, we might be under 7% - but this is good news nonetheless.

Purely on a political level, this is also good news for President Obama and his re-election bid, killing one of the GOP's favorite talking points about Obama promising unemployment numbers under 8%.

And now anyone who doesn't like the numbers purely for political purposes (I'm looking at you Jack Welch, you fucking asshole) is accusing the Bureau of Labor Statistics of cooking the books to help the President. Why is it that these fuckballs point to the numbers when they're in their favor and then dismiss them, or even worse, accuse the very same people of fraud?!

October surprise, motherfuckers!

Job Search

Posted by JHW22

Since President Obama was elected, his policies (the ones NOT blocked by the GOP) have created 4.5 million jobs. There are days when I get so furious thinking how many more jobs his policies could have created had the GOP actually not been assholes.
4.5 million jobs! That's a LOT. That's a lot considering how close we were to a Depression. It's kind of like being in 8th place until the last 50 meters and then pulling out all you've got and getting the Silver Have to have an Olympic reference, right). We still need to get the Gold but that would require some team effort. Sadly, with the GOP working against us, our team isn't being very productive.

Today we got a new jobs report and our economy added 163,000 jobs. The unemployment rate went up a click and that's what the GOP will focus on. They'll pretend the addition of jobs is a bad thing because the percent went up. But 163,000 jobs exist that didn't exist before.

-- Kevin Drum, Mother Jones

As a person who has been looking for a job for the first time in six years, and really longer ago than that because I had a job before I decided to be a stay-at-home mom, this is great news.

However, my problem isn't the number of jobs out there. I look at job boards several times a day. I have apps I check obsessively. I see jobs all day long. I see jobs in health care. I see jobs in retail. I see clerical jobs. And at times I see jobs in my field. But the jobs I see the most are in technical fields. Seriously. The problem isn't that we don't have jobs. The problem is that we aren't all qualified for the plethora of good paying jobs because we all decided to major in Literature (well, I did, anyway).

So I have a hard time applying for more jobs than I'd like simply because I don't have the skill sets needed for the jobs that ARE out there.

I read a quote a few weeks ago and I think about it all the time. I have to paraphrase it because I don't remember it specifically, and I have no idea who said it, but the gist is this:
[quote]Don't wait for something to happen. MAKE something happen.[/quote]
I'm trying to follow this in my job search. I am trying to be creative and inventive. It hasn't worked so far but at least I FEEL in control. I KNOW I'm not in control -- after all, there are hundreds of applicants competing for the same jobs, I've been off the circuit for A LONG TIME, and I have to admit I had a pretty glaring error on the resumes I was submitting for almost two months. I can't control the person's schedule who receives my resume to ensure they don't go on vacation or call in sick while my resume is at the top of the stack.

But I can take classes, I can read books, I can read articles, I can find ways to hone my skills.

And I can help re-elect President Obama and work to elect good Democrats to support him in Congress. Because if the 2012 election results in a Democratic win, I am confident that Obama will have more job creation policies enacted and a lot more opportunities for ALL of us and not just the techies. Or hell, maybe I can find something to hold me over while I become a techie, myself. Ahahahahaha. That was funny.

Cross-posted at www.ThisWomanThinks.com

Allen West's Slavery Complex

...or "Dumbass Allen West Quote of the Week."


Sometimes I really think that Republican Congressman and Tea Party nut job Allen West just says things to make headlines. He enjoys the spotlight. He's got Donald Trump Fever, that dreaded disease where diarrhea spews from your mouth just to attract attention to yourself.

Responding to a question about the increase of Americans getting Social Security benefits, he said, "that is an unfortunate consequence of failing economic policies coming from the president so that now when people are running out of the unemployment benefits, now they are looking toward going on Social Security disability… so once again we are creating the sense of economic dependence, which to me is a form of modern, 21st century slavery."

Yeah. A black man comparing Social Security to slavery and blaming another black man in the process.

Of course, it doesn't dawn on West to blame the "failing economic policies" to an intransigent GOP,  more worried about bringing anti-abortion and anti-contraception bills, as well as contempt charges against the Attorney General, to the floor instead of any inkling of a jobs bill. Why help the President create jobs and lower the unemployment rate when your main goal is to make him a one-term president?

And where is the proof that there is a direct correlation between the long term unemployed and those filing for Social Security disability benefits? But I digress.

Nutty West keeps bringing up slavery, whether it be in regards to Social Security or the self esteem that comes with being employed. Come on, Florida! Surely you can do better than this. You've been very disappointing since November of 2000.

Chart of the Day

Via Steve Benen:

...when jobless claims fall below the 400,000 threshold, it's considered evidence of an improving jobs landscape, and when the number drops below 370,000, it suggests jobs are actually being created rather quickly...

...Here's [a] chart -- which reflects the revised, seasonably-adjusted data -- showing weekly, initial unemployment claims going back to the beginning of 2007. (Remember, unlike the monthly jobs chart, a lower number is good news.)

President Obama's Weekly Address - November 12, 2011

Honoring Our Veterans for Their Service and Sacrifice

August Job Numbers: Zero

This is bad.

The US economy created no jobs and the unemployment rate held steadily higher at 9.1 percent in August, fueling concerns that the US is heading for another recession. It was the first time since World War II that the economy had precisely net zero jobs created for a month.

But hey, that jobs speech could wait another day, right?

Seriously though, let's see what the President has to say, and how the Republican Party will react. Are they going to work with the President for the sake of the country, or are they going to obstruct anything that may help dig the economy out of the recession hole?

I know. Stupid question.

Horrible June Jobs Numbers

Unemployment ticked up another notch to 9.2% as the June jobs numbers came out today. Only a net of 18,000 jobs on the plus side after a private sector increase of 57,000 jobs. The numbers are being dragged down month after month with a hemorrhaging of public sector jobs. Federal, state and local jobs have decreased by 238,000 in the last eight months alone.

President Obama is making a statement in the Rose Garden today at about 10:35am.

I heard the breaking news on the jobs numbers on Morning Joe and believe it or not, a fascinating conversation took place immediately thereafter; a conversation that probably wouldn't have happened had Joe Scarborough actually been at the table. It took place mainly between Ezra Klein and CNBC's Simon Hobbs, who appeared visibly flustered and frustrated at the political gridlock in Congress. Hobbs was specifically asking, with an ideological opposition, "What can the President do?!"

Finally, someone was seeing the big picture and not just automatically blaming the Obama administration, as Mike Barnicle had initially done before backing off a bit when the adults in the room took over. Video to follow.

UPDATE: Of course, Morning Joe and MSNBC being what it is, have decided to leave the most substantive, straightforward, non-partisan discussion the Morning Joe pundits have ever had off their site. If anyone can find the video of the discussion between Ezra Klein and Simon Hobbs from the final hour of the July 8th broadcast, please leave a link in the comments section. Thanks.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!

Lose them? So be it.

That's what the leader of the House Republicans said regarding the possible loss of government jobs with draconian budget cuts proposed by the GOP. Whether you believe this is wasteful spending or not is irrelevant. These are real people. These are workers that will join the ranks of the unemployed.

This is the same John Boehner that was whining "Where are the jobs?" while pointing at President Obama in the perpetual unemployment blame game during the campaign. This is the same John Boehner that was going to do the bidding of the American people, "do the people's work" and stop wasting time on health care battles and work on job creation.

And now the Not-So-Ready-For-Prime-Time Speaker of the House shrugs his shoulders at the potential loss of jobs in the federal workforce; the same federal workforce that has been dragging down the monthly employment numbers and stagnating the unemployment rate. While private sector jobs have slowly been coming back, local and state governments have been shedding jobs. But hey, firefighters, police officers, teachers, sanitation workers, those aren't real people, right?

Meanwhile, the same John Boehner supported an alternative engine for the military's F-35 fighter jet, an engine that the military didn't want or need. Couldn't be that the engine is produced in the Speaker's home state, could it?  The bill was soundly defeated in the House today, practically evenly split among Republicans.  How many more defeats can Boehner sustain before becoming completely insignificant?

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 4, 2010

... brought to you by Vice President Joe Biden.

Tax Cuts & Unemployment Insurance

Cartoon of the Day

President Obama's Weekly Address - July 17, 2010

Filibustering Recovery & Obstructing Progress

"Some Republican leaders actually treat this unemployment insurance as if it’s a form of welfare. They say it discourages folks from looking for work. Well, I’ve met a lot of folks looking for work these past few years, and I can tell you, I haven’t met any Americans who would rather have an unemployment check than a meaningful job that lets you provide for your family.

...after years of championing policies that turned a record surplus into a massive deficit, including a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, [Republican leaders] finally decided to make their stand on the backs of the unemployed. They’ve got no problem spending money on tax breaks for folks at the top who don’t need them and didn’t even ask for them; but they object to helping folks laid off in this recession who really do need help."

President Obama's Weekly Address - July 3, 2010

A Solar Recovery

Completely Out of Touch

If there is a prime example of politicians, namely Republicans, that have absolutely no idea of how the real world works and whose mindset is completely out of touch with reality, it has to be Senator Jon Kyl's (R-Az) asinine comment on unemployment benefits.

Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican whip, argued that unemployment benefits dissuade people from job-hunting "because people are being paid even though they're not working."

Unemployment insurance "doesn't create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work," Kyl said during debate over whether unemployment insurance and other benefits that expired amid GOP objections Sunday should be extended.

"I'm sure most of them would like work and probably have tried to seek it, but you can't argue that it's a job enhancer. If anything, as I said, it's a disincentive. And the same thing with the COBRA extension and the other extensions here," said Kyl.

I'm going to go out on a limb and take a wild guess in assuming Senator Jon Kyl has never been on unemployment. I'm sure he's pulled himself up by his own bootstraps considering his family didn't have enough money to afford the 'H' in his name. But it's examples like these that show how members mostly if not definitively in the Republican Party have no clue what is goes on in the real world.

It's not about job creation, you fucking moron.  It's about bridging the gap between employment opportunities for citizens who have most likely paid into unemployment insurance their entire working lives until the next job so they don't lose their house, their health care and can feed their families in the meantime. And in nearly all cases, the payments you receive are a fraction of what your actual salary actually was when you got the boot.

To Kyl, anyone who has lost their job, and therefore are in danger of or have already lost their health care benefits are nothing but welfare queens who are sucking on the government teat. How dare they collect on the unemployment insurance that they are legally entitled to and that they've paid into over the years? You goddamn lazy fuckers should be out pounding the pavement looking for a job if you've lost yours despite the fact that there are no jobs to be had. I suppose the current 9.8% unemployment rate is just voluntary. These people could find work if they really wanted to work, right, Jo-n?

Compound this idiocy with Senator Jim Bunning's filibuster of a $10 billion bill extending unemployment benefits and standing in the way of transportation projects that will put 2,000 more out of work because... well, who the hell knows why Bunning does what he does, and this is a microcosm of the GOP perspective.

Adding... Chris Matthews doesn't help his cause in his tacit support of Bunning not for any other reason than he's a Hall of Fame pitcher who played for his beloved Phillies in the 60's. Way to go, Tweety.

Good News

NY Times: U.S. Economy Lost Only 11,000 Jobs in November

The Labor Department reported that the United States economy lost 11,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate fell to 10 percent, down from 10.2 percent in October.

The government also significantly revised its September and October job loss estimates. September’s data was adjusted to show a loss of 139,000 jobs instead of 219,000, and in October 111,000 jobs were lost, instead of 190,000. Even allowing for the November loss, the revisions added 148,000 people to the list of those employed in the United States in November.

How soon before Fixed News declares that the stimulus had nothing to do with it and that this is just the natural upturn in any recession? You know, just like climate change is in a natural cycle and 150 years of industrial revolution CO2 has nothing to do with it.

Douchebag of the Week: Michelle Malkin

Once I found out she was actually going appear on This Week with George Stephanopolous, I knew it was a short matter of time before she would say something asinine.

Malkin thinks extending unemployment benefits of $300 per week extends joblessness because people would rather sit around and collect that easy money than look for a job and then just before the benefits expire, run right out and get a job in an environment where the national unemployment rate is teetering at 10% and some state numbers are as high as 15%-20%. Great job, Malkin.

Malkin: If you put enough government cheese in front of people they are just going to keep eating it and you're just kicking the can down the road and just to hammer this point about the unemployment benefits extension again it was Larry Katz, who's a chief labor economist under the Clinton labor department who came out with a study and there are a lot of these economists who say this that if you keep extending these "temporary" unemployment benefits you're just going to extend joblessness even more.

Michelle "Government Cheese" Malkin: Douchebag of the Week

(H/T C&L)

The People With the Cardboard Signs

Posted by Fraulein

My commute to and from work takes me through a variety of overcrowded metro Boston thoroughfares, and I actually have three distinct routes which I rotate based on what time I leave, the weather, and the Red Sox home game schedule (because my house is so close to Fenway Park). One route takes me along Memorial Drive in Cambridge, just a stone's throw from Harvard University. There is a particular interchange along this road where a rush hour driver has always been quite likely to see a homeless person or two, standing in the median and begging for change. It used to be, you'd see maybe one or two older guys out there in the morning, holding their signs. The message on the signs was usually something like: "Vietnam veteran. Out of work. Sober. Hungry."

Now, there's more of them. A lot more. Some mornings lately, passing by this one spot, I've seen five different homeless people jockeying for position on this median. Men and women. Young and old. Lately, all of them white, although this hasn't always been the case.

"60 years old, lost job," reads the sign held by the harassed-looking woman standing a foot away from the traffic, a dirty wind rustling her hair.

"Clean and sober. Can't find job," says another sign held by a young man, maybe 30 years old, his back bent as if the weight of his problems is literally bearing him into the dirt.

"Kids at home, no work," says another one. The man holding this sign doesn't look as physically fragile as the bent-over guy. He wears brawny-looking work boots, the kind a construction worker might wear, as if in defiance of his present situation.

Then there's the guy who actually stands in the traffic, at another spot on the same road, a couple of miles from the group at the interchange. Sometimes I approach this area and there is an inexplicable backup, and then as I draw closer I realize it must be because of drivers dodging this particular guy, who seems to want to make sure as many drivers see him as possible. "Hungry," his cardboard sign says.

I'm not sure how we got to the point, as a nation, where we look past these people as if they were invisible, but this is surely where we are. Every once in a while someone does roll down their window to pass out a couple of dollars to the group in the interchange, but this is the exception. I try to do it when I can, even though I find it frustrating in the extreme that there isn't more I can do as an individual to effect change. I find myself wondering if this is the definition of "liberal guilt" -- a white woman who lives in an upscale suburb, with a full-time job and health insurance, rolls down the window of her brand-new car to hand out a few bucks to someone who's desperate. All the time despising myself for not being able to do more.

They're always so sincerely grateful, too.

And this is the part that fills me with rage about the Rush Limbaughs and Newt Gingrichs of the world--the people who would insinuate that the median dwellers beg for money because they're lazy. Because it's so much more fun to stand outside in the rain and the heat sucking down car exhaust than having an actual job.

You have to ask yourself whether the people who hold this view have ever even tried to imagine what it might be like to be so desperate for money that the best solution presenting itself is to take a sharpie pen to a piece of cardboard, scrawl the word "HUNGRY," and go stand in the goddamn traffic hoping someone hands you a couple of quarters.

Maybe if we weren't so short on empathy in this country, things would be a bit less grim for people like this. I know the problems are hideously complex and the answers are hard to come by. But a little empathy, even on its own, would go a long way I think.

America, 2009

Posted by Fraulein

Some astonishing reporting this week by the always-excellent McClatchy news service on a town in California with a 41 percent unemployment rate. This is a must-read:

"It's reminiscent of the Depression," said Silva, Mendota's mayor. "In those days you had soup lines, now you have food lines. This is a disaster area."

Signs of poverty and desperation are everywhere.

Many people in Mendota are turning to alcohol to battle depression, said Amador, the council member. And some single-family homes are occupied by two or three families, in what Amador described as "basically labor camps."

"It's a violation of city code, but you don't want to put these families out on the streets," he said.