The real unemployment numbers

[Bottomfeeder 244]

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm

[CCTAU 3,350]

Same damn calculations that were here when Clintax was in office. But now they seem to mean something different.

[otterinbham 0]

Oh, BF, you poor sad dupe. Read the definition:

"Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past."

Yesterday, driving up Highway 280, I drove past literally dozens of help-wanted signs. A person who is not looking for work and can work is somebody I'm not concerned about.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Oh, BF, you poor sad dupe. Read the definition:

"Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past."

Yesterday, driving up Highway 280, I drove past literally dozens of help-wanted signs. A person who is not looking for work and can work is somebody I'm not concerned about.

I can read and comprehend very well thank you. Dupe? LOL.

It's the pay that has most discouraged. Yea, help wanted for less money than I pay in withholdings. No thanks, they can keep their cheap-labor jobs. Just like EADS coming to Mobile with high paying jobs, what an insult. High paying? Compared to what, Burger King? What a joke. And Bush, stating that education is rewarded, yea if one can afford college these days. Hell, most families have to mortgage the home to send just one child through four years at a state funded school.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Bottom line, the VAST majority of the unemployment numbers reflect those not wanting jobs.

[AURaptor 1,126]

BF, you're well established as the resident joke here on aunation. You want the guarantee where everyone has a life of leisure and a livable income ? Why not move to Cuba. Why not let Hugo Chavez run your affairs for ya ?

And Bush, stating that education is rewarded, yea if one can afford college these days. Hell, most families have to mortgage the home to send just one child through four years at a state funded school.

Hell, most families shouldn't be sending their kids to college, at least not to a large 4 yr University. There are plenty of affordable Jr colleges and smaller Universities , if that is indeed the best path for their child.

Also, your pathetic upside down flag is a disgrace, as are you.

[otterinbham 0]

Oh, BF, you poor sad dupe. Read the definition:

"Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past."

Yesterday, driving up Highway 280, I drove past literally dozens of help-wanted signs. A person who is not looking for work and can work is somebody I'm not concerned about.

I can read and comprehend very well thank you. Dupe? LOL.

It's the pay that has most discouraged. Yea, help wanted for less money than I pay in withholdings. No thanks, they can keep their cheap-labor jobs. Just like EADS coming to Mobile with high paying jobs, what an insult. High paying? Compared to what, Burger King? What a joke. And Bush, stating that education is rewarded, yea if one can afford college these days. Hell, most families have to mortgage the home to send just one child through four years at a state funded school.

Gosh, Bottomfeeder. Another incoherent rant on your part. Let's dissect that, please.

"It's the pay that has most discouraged." Guess what? I started out in life at minimum wage. I busted it to get raises. My first job out of college barely paid at poverty level. So I busted it and got a better job that made better pay. You seem to make no connection between one and the other. Oh, and before you go on a rant against McJobs, realize that even fast food has a built-in career ladder that winds up paying very well to people with relatively little education. If you're fairly diligent in a fast-food restaurant, you get made manager trainee, followed by assistant manager, manager, area manager, etc. I've worked with a number of fast-food chains, and I've met many an executive who bootstrapped his way up the ladder with no more than a high-school education--something you apparently don't have the initiative to do. Heck, the McDonald's on 280 is hiring people to start at $10.50 / hour with benefits. That's $21,000/year. It may not sound like much, but it's much better than sitting at home and waiting on the welfare check.

And the subtext in your post is really that YOU'RE not getting paid well. Well, if you grouse as much on the job as you do in this forum, then I wouldn't give you a raise either.

Here's the real deal, using 2003 statistics: In 2003, on average, 5.3 percent of all employed Americans had more than one job. That's not even one in 19. Most of those people worked either one full-time and one part-time job or two part-time jobs. Most of those were under 30. Further more, the US per capita income gap continues to widen over Europe. Today, per capita income is 36% higher than France, 42% higher than German, and 44% higher than Italy. In 1982, the difference was much smaller -- 13%-27%. Further, household incomes continue to rise when adjusted for inflation. Finally, compared to our European counterparts, there's a great deal more upward mobility in income levels. A very small proportion of the workforce actually earns minimum wage, and that number seems to overwhelmingly be teenagers.

Yet another interesting quote: "Hell, most families have to mortgage the home to send just one child through four years at a state funded school." With student aid, scholarships, and incredibly generous student loan programs, no family of a hard-working, diligent student has to go very far in the hole to fund education at a state college. In fact, if the student works a part time job, then a college education shouldn't cost the parent much at all. Heck, I worked full-time to pay for my college because my parents could pay very little of my college expenses. It wasn't easy, but I sure as heck didn't your apparent sense of entitlement.

So basically, if you actually show up on time, care about the quality of your work, spend less time bitching and more time trying on the job, you get a promotion and a raise.

One other thing. You talk about witholdings on your paycheck. Compared to your collegues in Europe or even in Michigan, you pay far less in taxes.

So, in an area with 2.9% unemployment, I have one word to say to the "discouraged" worker: Get off your ass. People are begging for workers right now. Get a job, show up on time, and do your best. The rest will take care of itself.