JUNE 2012 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S.
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL
UNEMPLOYMENT: 8.2%
A year earlier, the number of unemployed
persons was 14.0
million, and the jobless rate was 9.1 percent. [BLS]
| White |
7.4% |
| African
American |
14.4% |
| Hispanic |
11.0% |
| Asian** |
6.3% |
| Persons with a disability** |
13.3% |
| Men
20 years and over |
7.8% |
| Women
20 years and over |
7.4% |
| Teens
(16-19 years) |
23.7% |
| Black
teens |
39.3% |
| Officially
unemployed |
12.7 million |
HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT
| Working
part-time because can't find a full-time job: |
8.2 million |
| People
who want jobs but are
not looking so are
not counted in official statistics (of which about 2.5 million**
searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available
for work during the reference week.) |
6.5 million |
|
Total: 27.4 million (16.9% of the labor force)
|
Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
**Not
seasonally adjusted.
*See Uncommon Sense #4 for an explanation of the unemployment measures.
In addition,
millions more were working full-time, year-round, yet
earned less than the official poverty level for a family of four.
In
2010, the latest year available, that number was 16.8 million,
17.0 percent of full-time, full-year workers (estimated from Current
Population Survey, Bur. of the Census, 9/2011).
In
April, 2012, the latest month available, the number of
job openings was 3.4 million,
"a decline from March. Job openings decreased for total nonfarm, total private, and government as well as in manufacturing, professional and business services, and state and local government. The number of openings also decreased in April for the Midwest region. Although the number of total nonfarm job openings declined in April, the number of openings was 1.0 million higher than at the end of the recession in June 2009." Job
Openings and Labor Turnover Estimates, June 19, 2012.+
Thus there are now 8 job-wanters for each available job.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3252
Employment-population
ratio 1/1948 to 3/2012
The
Waste [of output] by Paul Krugman August 11, 2011blog
cumulative loss because of recession: $2.8 Tr.
 ....
+
"The number of job openings in Arpil (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the year for total nonfarm and total private but was little changed for government. Job openings increased over the year for several industries and the Northeast and South regions."
|
