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New jobs numbers portray an economy in near free fall

 
 
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 10:04 am
New jobs numbers portray an economy in near free fall
By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers
1/9/08

WASHINGTON " The U.S. recession gathered steam in December as employers shed another 524,000 jobs, the unemployment rate leapt half a percentage point to 7.2 percent, the length of the average workweek fell to a record low and job losses were spread widely across almost all sectors of the economy, the government said Friday.

December's unemployment rate was the highest since January 1993, and was up by much more than expected over November's rate of 6.7 percent, according to the Labor Department. The December job losses brought the full-year total to more than 2.6 million.

There was little to cheer in the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although the December job losses were just a touch higher than the consensus forecast, many analysts think that they'll be revised next month.

Several state employment offices saw their computer systems crash in December with the soaring number of people who were seeking jobless benefits, and this may have resulted in a number lower than it really is.

The Labor Department also revised its employment reports from October and November, noting that job losses in those months were worse than first reported. Employers rid themselves of 423,000 jobs in October, not the originally reported 320,000, and 584,000 positions in November, not the 533,000 first reported by the BLS.

While the steep jump in unemployment and mounting job losses grabbed the headlines, there was even more troubling news buried deeper down in the report. The BLS said that the average hourly workweek for production and nonsupervisory jobs had shrunk 0.2 percent to 33.3 hours. That marks the lowest that this number has registered since the government started compiling these statistics in 1964.

"The message in the decline in hours worked to a record low is that more big job losses are coming," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com, a forecaster in West Chester, Pa. "Employers first cut their employees' hours and then their jobs if business doesn't quickly improve."

It's hard to see how business will improve anytime soon. The December jobs numbers point to an economy in near free fall, as the BLS said 1.9 million jobs had been lost in the final four months of 2008. In all, 11.1 million Americans are thought to be unemployed.

"In December, job losses were large and widespread across most major industry sectors," the BLS employment report said.

Manufacturers shed 149,000 jobs in December and 791,000 for all of last year. The biggest manufacturing losers were metal-makers and companies that make cars and car parts. Construction fell by 101,000 jobs in December and by 899,000 since its peak in September 2006.

Retailers dropped 67,000 positions in December and 522,000 last year, more than half of those jobs lost in the last four months of 2008. Warehousing and transport employment fell by 24,000 jobs in December, while the information industry lost 20,000 positions. Food services fell by 20,000 last month.

Only health care showed robust growth, adding 32,000 jobs in December and 372,000 positions last year. "The decline in jobs across so many industries and occupations is disturbing. There is no safe place in the job market," Zandi said.

In another troubling indicator, the number of involuntary part-time workers, those who want to work full time but can't find such jobs, rose to 8 million in December and increased by 3.4 million for all of last year.

Additionally, the number of long-term unemployed " jobless for 27 weeks or more " rose to 2.6 million in December and increased by 1.3 million for all of 2008. This number essentially doubled as many of the unemployed remained that way for much of the year.

Read the BLS report.
 
Frank Apisa
 
  4  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 10:51 am
As I’ve mentioned on many occasions, BBB…compared with the impact third world labor has on jobs here in the US…the machines, robots and computers we have make that kind of labor look like prohibitively overpriced folly.

Most decent paying jobs for the average bread winning American have been manufacturing jobs. During the last three decades, we have, through robotics and other mechanical advantage, incorporated the equivalent of trillions of slaves to do that work.

It simply has stopped being realistic to pay human workers good salaries to do MOST of the jobs that human workers can do…and certainly it has stopped being realistic to pay human workers good salaries to do MOST of the jobs for which human workers have been paid decent wages in the past.

The day of paying human workers decent pay to do the kind of work most humans are capable of doing...has ended. It will never come back.

The kinds of changes necessary to deal with the implications of our technological advances are massive.

No one is even looking at the problem from the proper perspective.
Linkat
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 11:33 am
You know the economy's bad when it effects WWE -

"Sports entertainment company World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. of Stamford, Conn., said today that it will cut 10 percent of its staff as part of a broader cost-cutting plan."

Green Witch
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 11:47 am
@Linkat,
NASCAR has also talked about cutbacks. It's one thing when people can't afford to go to the opera or ballet, but when people can't afford cultural trash you know things are bad.
Cycloptichorn
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 11:49 am
@Frank Apisa,
Frank Apisa wrote:

As I’ve mentioned on many occasions, BBB…compared with the impact third world labor has on jobs here in the US…the machines, robots and computers we have make that kind of labor look like prohibitively overpriced folly.

Most decent paying jobs for the average bread winning American have been manufacturing jobs. During the last three decades, we have, through robotics and other mechanical advantage, incorporated the equivalent of trillions of slaves to do that work.

It simply has stopped being realistic to pay human workers good salaries to do MOST of the jobs that human workers can do…and certainly it has stopped being realistic to pay human workers good salaries to do MOST of the jobs for which human workers have been paid decent wages in the past.

The day of paying human workers decent pay to do the kind of work most humans are capable of doing...has ended. It will never come back.

The kinds of changes necessary to deal with the implications of our technological advances are massive.

No one is even looking at the problem from the proper perspective.



The problem is that it's difficult to support an economy based entirely on services and 'thought' positions when push comes to shove. We still have to have production facilities for the necessities no matter the cost, in terms of national security...

I'm hoping technology opens up some new avenues for looking at these issues.

Cycloptichorn
Green Witch
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 11:55 am
@Cycloptichorn,
Quote:
The problem is that it's difficult to support an economy based entirely on services and 'thought' positions when push comes to shove.


For years the only thing we have valued is people who make money out of money. It's like a form of alchemy. The whole economy had a Bernard Medoff quality with investments built on beliefs and not solid products.
0 Replies
 
hamburger
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 01:30 pm
@Green Witch,
green witch wrote :

Quote:
NASCAR has also talked about cutbacks. It's one thing when people can't afford to go to the opera or ballet, but when people can't afford cultural trash you know things are bad.


a little note from canada :
the toronto arts community (live theatre , opera , ballet ... ...) report that their revenues are UP !
the reason given is that people are spending less on (expensive) winter holidays in the south and are instead spending some of that money locally .
we ourselves will be going to toronto in two weeks to see a couple of shows and probably visit a museum . while theatre prices have not been slashed , hotels are offering great bargains , such as : second night at half-price plus free buffet breakfast thrown into the bargain .
it's a bargain we are going to take advantage of .

canada's unemployment rate stands currently at 6.6 % and a/t to our minister of finance is expected to reach 10 % - so it'll probably be higher than the prediction .
i think last time we reached those numbers was in the mid-seventies .
the government suggests that "work sharing" may be one way to avoid a freefall .
(i have never heard the words "work sharing" suggested by a canadian government - and it's even a CONSERVATIVE government suggesting it) .
hbg

Green Witch
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 01:47 pm
@hamburger,
Not in the USA . Sixteen Broadway shows are set to close this month, including once big hits like Spamalot. Lincoln Center has reported a big turndown in ticket sales for classical entertainment like opera, ballet and the Philharmonic. Holiday sales overall were very slow compared to previous years.
Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 03:28 pm
@Cycloptichorn,
Cyclop wrote:

Quote:
The problem is that it's difficult to support an economy based entirely on services and 'thought' positions when push comes to shove. We still have to have production facilities for the necessities no matter the cost, in terms of national security...

I'm hoping technology opens up some new avenues for looking at these issues.


What we actually have to do is to realize that all of our needs can be met without most humans doing any work at all...and with some humans doing small amounts of work.

We would all get more leisure...and the machines (the trillions of new slaves I mentioned) would do the bulk of the work.

All we have to do is to figure out how to get away from the mindset that everyone has to "earn" their living...and figure out a way to get enough buying power into the hands of the people not working to get the necessities (and some of the desires) of life.

A much easier problem than "how do we create enough decent paying jobs for everyone who needs and wants one."

Cycloptichorn
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 03:54 pm
@Frank Apisa,
Frank Apisa wrote:

Cyclop wrote:

Quote:
The problem is that it's difficult to support an economy based entirely on services and 'thought' positions when push comes to shove. We still have to have production facilities for the necessities no matter the cost, in terms of national security...

I'm hoping technology opens up some new avenues for looking at these issues.


What we actually have to do is to realize that all of our needs can be met without most humans doing any work at all...and with some humans doing small amounts of work.

We would all get more leisure...and the machines (the trillions of new slaves I mentioned) would do the bulk of the work.

All we have to do is to figure out how to get away from the mindset that everyone has to "earn" their living...and figure out a way to get enough buying power into the hands of the people not working to get the necessities (and some of the desires) of life.

A much easier problem than "how do we create enough decent paying jobs for everyone who needs and wants one."


I agree, but this strategy only works in a society which does not place unlimited material possession as the highest social and moral value. As long as we glorify the rich, what you envision will not happen; because those who buy into that glory (mostly what we call 'Republicans') will continually act against the best wishes of society as a whole.

Cycloptichorn
hamburger
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 03:57 pm
@Green Witch,
green witch wrote :

Quote:
Not in the USA . Sixteen Broadway shows are set to close this month, including once big hits like Spamalot. Lincoln Center has reported a big turndown in ticket sales for classical entertainment like opera, ballet and the Philharmonic. Holiday sales overall were very slow compared to previous years.


canada usually lags behind the U.S. both on the downturn AND the upturn -
i imagine it won't be much different this time .
but we'll have fun while we can Laughing Shocked
it'll be difficult enough when the REAL downturn occurs .
hbg
0 Replies
 
BumbleBeeBoogie
 
  1  
Reply Fri 9 Jan, 2009 09:55 pm
You must keep in mind that the actual latest unemployment rate is 13 percent.

BBB
OGIONIK
 
  1  
Reply Sat 10 Jan, 2009 02:04 am
@BumbleBeeBoogie,
lol, this is rather depressing news for one in the job search market isnt it?

:/

crime, as i have previously stated, is inevitable. there are no alternatives.

the food banks are empty.

my UE benefits are gone.

all thats left is food stamps, woot woot.

0 Replies
 
OGIONIK
 
  1  
Reply Sat 10 Jan, 2009 02:04 am
@BumbleBeeBoogie,
obama better pull a miracle out of his ass
OGIONIK
 
  1  
Reply Sat 10 Jan, 2009 02:09 am
@OGIONIK,
i hear if we tally unemplyment the way we did back in the day it would be 16.5 %

yikes, didnt number magic get us into this in the first place?

O_o

Under President Lyndon Johnson, the government decided individuals who had stopped looking for work for more than a year were no longer part of the labor force. This dramatically decreased the jobless rate reported by the government.
0 Replies
 
Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Sat 10 Jan, 2009 09:21 am
@Cycloptichorn,
Cycloptichorn wrote:

Quote:
I agree, but this strategy only works in a society which does not place unlimited material possession as the highest social and moral value. As long as we glorify the rich, what you envision will not happen; because those who buy into that glory (mostly what we call 'Republicans') will continually act against the best wishes of society as a whole.


No reason why it can't be worked out so that the people who want to work...and who can work productively (there will still be plenty of work around)...get lots and lots of extras. No need for all to have the same...in fact, best if not all have the same. But for certain, we can work it out so that all have enough to live reasonably...and then let the people who want to compete for all the rest compete...or steal from each other.
0 Replies
 
 

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