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Like I said . . . these figures can be presented in many formats and to justify many points of view.
Regardless, the unemployment rate in this country remains the highest it has been in decades and in some regions, the highest it has been since the Great Depression.
It peaked at nearly 11% under Reagan.
The United States Unemployment Rate (http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp - broken link)
If Walmart isnt contracting and actually is hiring that's good news, too.
Isnt it better that more people are at least working, fewer people are filing, house prices stabilizing and in some places rising, and so forth?
Fewer people filing . . . is this because they don't qualify to file, i.e. contract workers?
What about those who have not found jobs and whose benefits have run out - who is counting them? What aggregate figures show this?
House prices are stabilizing . . . where? And what does that mean - "Stabilizing?" If the average home price dropped 50%, does a 5% gain really mean anything?
I am not trying to be argumentative here and do not mean to insult you for your optimism. I am just asking - are these really signs of improvement - or just signs that the blood-letting has slowed.
Fewer people filing . . . is this because they don't qualify to file, i.e. contract workers?
What about those who have not found jobs and whose benefits have run out - who is counting them? What aggregate figures show this?
Again, that is ALWAYS the case. Those numbers are always left out - under this administration and under previous administrations. You can't change your computational methods simply because you don't like what they are saying. You have to compare apples to apples in order to measure progress.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anifani821
House prices are stabilizing . . . where? And what does that mean - "Stabilizing?" If the average home price dropped 50%, does a 5% gain really mean anything?
I am not trying to be argumentative here and do not mean to insult you for your optimism. I am just asking - are these really signs of improvement - or just signs that the blood-letting has slowed.
I believe some see pointing out that unemployment is getting worse is a direct attack on their guy in the WH....when at least in my case it is not.
I care nothing for Obama thats for sure but this is bigger then him or the Dems even,this is a major problem with the society we have become used to.
And making things appear more rosy is either naive OR ideologically based.
Again, that's all the more reason that whatever computational methods have been used in the past should continue to be the yardstick NOW.
The official numbers are showing a drop.
The United States Unemployment Rate (http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp - broken link)
Ken
And how long was that sustained?
Things sucked then as they do now . . . but here is something no one seems to be discussing.
Back in the Reagan years, the unemployment represented TRUE LAY OFFS. By that I mean, folks were temporarily laid off from manufacturing jobs, but they eventually were able to return to those jobs.
The situation now is . . . the jobs are GONE. It is not merely a matter of temporarily laying off. This is not true all over the country, but in some regions, this is a fact.
We have had factories close and relocate their operations to other countries (i.e., Mexico, China, India, Malaysia). These are not jobs that will be coming back.
No one discusses that aspect of this economic downturn.
Diminished outcomes are great expectations. What about the people who have fallen off the unemployment benefits roll? They still don't have jobs, a year or more later. Great, job losses are slowing but we're not CREATING jobs. Until that happens, we won't have a recovery.
Fewer people filing . . . is this because they don't qualify to file, i.e. contract workers?
What about those who have not found jobs and whose benefits have run out - who is counting them? What aggregate figures show this?
House prices are stabilizing . . . where? And what does that mean - "Stabilizing?" If the average home price dropped 50%, does a 5% gain really mean anything?
I am not trying to be argumentative here and do not mean to insult you for your optimism. I am just asking - are these really signs of improvement - or just signs that the blood-letting has slowed.
Yes, they're signs of improvement -- slowed bloodletting is an improvement. Even the linked article in the OP admits, "Still, the worst of the job cuts have passed."
I dont know about who's not filing/cant file, though the link in the OP breaks it down some: "fewer jobs cuts in manufacturing, construction, professional and business services and financial activities -- areas that have been hard hit by the collapse of the housing market and the financial crisis". I dont know how people whose benefits have run out could be counted or estimated but I'll bet theres an attempt to, somewhere.
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