Layoff Tracker! (Clinton: insurance, unemployment rate, college)

[Palmetto Heel]

Forbes started a layoff tracker on its site. CLT stalwart BofA figures prominently.

Layoff Tracker - Forbes.com

[BrianH1970]

This could be morbid.

Do we really need to look at this?


Oh dear lord I looked....

[Palmetto Heel]

~200,000 jobs and counting! Yeah, it's morbid but you have to put the numbers in perspective. According to the BLS in November there were ~144.3 million adults working full time in the US. Those layoffs represent 1/10th of 1% of that population.

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by Palmetto Heel

~200,000 jobs and counting! Yeah, it's morbid but you have to put the numbers in perspective. According to the BLS in November there were ~144.3 million adults working full time in the US. Those layoffs represent 1/10th of 1% of that population.

So then there's really no recession or reason to worry about job security!

[goingreene]

But this represents just America's largest 500 companies... these numbers don't include those laid off from smaller companies. I've heard that number could actually be as high as over HALF MILLION!! Not sure if that's accurate, but scary even if it's close.

[Palmetto Heel]

Originally Posted by Miker2069

So then there's really no recession or reason to worry about job security!

The vast majority of people, especially college grads, will go on with business as usual. This isn't like the Great Depression when the US had a 25% unemployment rate.

[Palmetto Heel]

Originally Posted by goingreene

But this represents just America's largest 500 companies... these numbers don't include those laid off from smaller companies. I've heard that number could actually be as high as over HALF MILLION!! Not sure if that's accurate, but scary even if it's close.

I'll do you one better, let's say that the number is 1 million. That's still less than 1/6th of 1% of all adult, full time workers! It sucks if you're an individual who has lost his job, and I got caught in a RIF early in my career so I've been there, but the overall situation just isn't that bad. The sooner that we stop talking ourselves into a recession the faster we'll be out of it. Unfortunately, bad news sells papers, brings in viewers, and drives web traffic.

[Barkingowl]

I wonder how many people have to be out of work to start rioting?

[Palmetto Heel]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

I wonder how many people have to be out of work to start rioting?

Unemployment insurance is there to quiet the masses.

[CouponJack]

Originally Posted by Palmetto Heel

The vast majority of people, especially college grads, will go on with business as usual. This isn't like the Great Depression when the US had a 25% unemployment rate.

Real unemployment is around 12-15% currently if you go by the calculations used pre-Clinton. We don't use those calculations anymore, thus the Unem. rate is much lower today that reality.

The difference today is all the entitlement programs. Along w/the FDIC & (circuit breakers) for the stock market (didn't really help muich). Also, 50% of banks failed back then. Gov't today is trying to keep banks from failing. These are the reasons why we won't go into a "depression" IMO.......hyper inflation maybe, but not a "depression"


Don't agree though that the "vast Majority" will go on as business as usual though.