AUGUST
2012 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S.
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL
UNEMPLOYMENT: 8.1%
A year earlier, the number of unemployed
persons was 13.9
million, and the jobless rate was 9.1 percent. [BLS]
| White |
7.2% |
| African
American |
14.1% |
| Hispanic |
10.2% |
| Asian** |
5.9% |
| Persons with a disability** |
13.9% |
| Men
20 years and over |
7.6% |
| Women
20 years and over |
7.3% |
| Teens
(16-19 years) |
24.6% |
| Black
teens |
37.9% |
| Officially
unemployed |
12.5
million |
HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT
| Working
part-time because can't find a full-time job: |
8.0
million |
| People
who want jobs but are
not looking so are
not counted in official statistics (of which about 2.6 million**
searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available
for work during the reference week.) |
7.0
million |
|
Total:
27.5 million (17.0% 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
June, 2012, the latest month available, the number of
job openings was 3.8 million,
"little changed from 3.7 million in May. Job openings were little changed in all industries and regions. The level of total nonfarm job openings in June was up from 2.4 million at the end of the recession in June 2009." Job
Openings and Labor Turnover Estimates, August 7, 2012.+
Thus there are now more than 7 job-wanters for each available job.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3815
Employment-population
ratio 1/1948 to 7/2012
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3252
+"The number of job openings in June (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the year for total nonfarm and total private. The number of job openings for government was little changed. Job openings increased over the year for several industries and the Midwest, Northeast and South regions."
|
