Thoughts On Unemployment

Good observation. It is a wildly inacurate number. The only way to get an acurate number though is a voluntary registry. I'm not sure how something like that could be implimented though. I would expect in the next two months your going to see the official number climb at least a few more points before things really begin to sink and it skyrockets.

The way I figure it, with all the people they're not counting, and that being their estimate...the odds are, that the actual number is much higher...so these new percentages give us enough to gouge how much things thoroughly suck (granted we know a thing or two about how those stats being "not entirely thorough enough to be solid truth on current unemployment numbers"). Yeah, it'd be great if we had something a little more...real. We don't need no more guesswork from the government, at this point...they kinda, tend to, you know...suck at it. Do you have ideas for a solution? I saw that you were talking about a "voluntary registry"...maybe that could be more like a website that they set up with allowed "feedback for why you disagree with this idea" maybe, to gouge more accurate numbers? I dunno, really. It's decent enough for people who attempt to analyze this stuff to go on -- which yes, I realize sounds kinda sad...

It's a common misconception that unemployment statistics are tied somehow to unemployment benefits. Luckily, that isn't the ways the Bureau of Labor Statistics comes to their numbers. Here's the BLS explanation of how they get the unemployment rates: Where do the statistics come from? Because unemployment insurance records relate only to persons who have applied for such benefits, and because it is impractical to actually count every unemployed person each month, the Government conducts a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. The CPS has been conducted in the United States every month since 1940 when it began as a Work Projects Administration program. It has been expanded and modified several times since then. http://www.bls.gov/cps/faq.htm#Ques1

"I think that has to do with people running out of unemployment benefits and are not considered unemployed" That's not it at all Zephyr. You're just buying into the myth that unemployment rates are based on how many people collect benefits. The fact is that how many people collect benefits has nothing to do with the overall rating. "the Government conducts a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. The CPS has been conducted in the United States every month since 1940, when it began as a Work Projects Administration project." http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm As with any survey, the results have a margin of error, but it is clearly the best indicator we have to measure unemployment with. I'm amazed that so many people still believe that it's based on how many collect benefits. I learned the truth about that when I was still in high school.

Who is going to report the numbers?

They only use the figures from the statistics of those who are collecting unemployment insurance. When that runs out, the person rolls off of the statistics. I was reading an article yesterday that, at the current rate of people being laid off, combined with the kids that are graduating high school and college this year, over 400,000 new jobs PER MONTH are going to have to be created.

Personally I do not think anyone would really want to see the numbers of the actual unemployed out there which includes those who are not eligible for unemployment, those who's benefits have run out already etc. I really do wonder when the end is going to come for this, but at the same time continue to wish the best for everyone as well. I know that when you see people taking any type of job out there just to be employed, you know it's getting bad out there for sure.

I agree with you. I think that it is the number of people just on unemployment, and there are a lot of people losing those benefits. I think there needs to be a more accurate number of those who are unemployed. My fiance has been laid off since January, and they have yet to recieve a call back date, plus there aren't really any jobs that had the same pay rate. Ecspecially since a major plant just shut down that employed over half of the people in this area. These are tough times, and I really don't think that unemployment is declining. I think they need to look further into their statistics.

Regardless of how these numbers are derived, I find it impossible to believe that the unemployment rate is going down in any location...not when I see long lines of people applying for every available job and not when you can't even get a job at Walmart or a fast food joint. I also read a misconception below about illegal aliens receiving multiple benefits under different aliases in Florida. Employers down here are required to verify social security numbers due to our large, mostly Cuban, population. Employers are severely fined for not doing this. I'm sure there are some who manage to get away with it but, for the most part, the illegal immigrant population in Florida are day laborers who work for cash and, as such, are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

Good Observation. hehehe. Well for me, unemployment is one major problems in this world. When someone is unemployed the first thing you will think is, what can you do to make a living. Even they say that this number of unemployed people are out there looking, they say percentages but the fact is, that is not the accurate number. Hehehe. I think we should do something about this. If the numbers would increase it means that our world is not getting better anymore.

So here are my thoughts on the whole unemployment thing. I have never claimed unemployment...and there have been times that I have been unemployed but didn't feel that I was in such a situation that I needed to claim this money. I'm not picking on anyone that does either when I say this. But times have changed. I currently have 8 friends that have been out of work since around Thanksgiving. They were like myself...never claimed unemployment. All were let go of their position because of company cutbacks and company finances, not because of poor review of their work. No severance pay, right around the holidays, and then to fight to claim unemployment??? It wasn't easy for some, easier for others. They all had jobs of which required many years in college and working up the ranks into their positions. They weren't a 6 figure salaried person but finally got a job that they could live comfortably within their means. So here is my point......They have been searching for work while on unemployment. Like every day looking on job search engines, resumes posted everywhere, looking in the local paper, and calling back places of which they applied and had not heard anything from. We have more people on unemployment now than in over 20 years of history. At least that's what the news has been saying and I believe it. Okay, so my point. My friends who are unemployed where snickering at the idea of requiring community service hours while claiming unemployment. These people could be working the position of fixing up parks (of which those jobs were cut by the government), answering phones at certain government offices, manning the disability buses (of which used to drive disabled persons to their jobs, but these positions have been cut), teacher's aide (too many kids not enough adults in a classroom), or whatever their job experiences and criminal records would allow them to do. SO you are essentially earning money from unemployment, working on your network to find a job, new job, or even a new job skill. Volunteer hours would be based on the amount of money being cashed through the unemployment with no more than 15 hours per week. The more money you received through unemployment, the more money you got. And if you wanted to get more money through unemployment, then you volunteered more time. This would allow things to get done in our country that could no longer be done due to job cuts and department closures. It would take lots of time in planning and organizing. But it would allow the recipients to give back to the country while they earned money from a system that might dry up and collapse. SO my friends laughed...but then realized that 5 hours a week doing something that might lead them to another job wasn't such a bad idea. Plus they could put it down on a resume. Not to mention they could stop complaining about the unpainted and broken bus stop benches, the tattered and dangerous park areas, or even the polluted beaches with trash on the shores. What do you guys think? This would give an opportunity for a census to be done and maybe have other reports done within the government that might have otherwise not be completed. AND its an actual job. So if you are just a lazy person who hasn't even started searching for a job then you won't be able to receive the benefits. If you have been on unemployment for longer than a year, then the government could provide some kind of job transition training to get you another job maybe even close to the original pay. Now, I'm not talking about those people that are disabled and claiming unemployment. But even for some of those people there could be jobs: courier, data entry, mail sorting, secretarial work like stapling and sorting. And they could even receive more money for however many hours that they could put in. When you look around your area and around the nation don't you think that there are lots of things that could be done or completed?

Dear Friend, you said it right, I very much support the idea of you and wishing happiness always!~~

Unemployment are worldwide nowdays because of the economic turns down. I am in China. It was said that many factories shut down in south China, more and more people lost their job or about to lose job. Some of them are the backbone in the family, can not image how can they support their family if they lost their job.