Why Millions of Americans Wish They Worked for Uncle Sam

• The number of civilian unemployed was reported as 7,651,000 in the report issued for June, 2005.
• The same report for June, 2010 reported 14,623,000 as unemployed. 
• About 7,000,000 additional Americans lost their job during this period

• The number of persons employed by The Government in June, 2005 was 21,763,000. 
•  The June, 2010 report showed that the Government was employing 22,770,000. 
• The number employed by the Government during this period actually rose by a million.

I think that is safe to assume that only a tiny fraction of Government employees lost their job, and net net there are a million more individuals employed by Government

The following graph shows the trend of employment for all Government employees.

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- NOVEMBER 2009

The unemployment rate edged down to 10.0 percent in November, and nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged (-11,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In the prior 3 months, payroll job losses had averaged 135,000 a month.

In November, employment fell in construction, manufacturing, and information, while temporary help services and health care added jobs.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September was revised from -219,000 to -139,000, and the change for October was revised from -190,000 to -111,000.

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Household Survey Data

In November, both the number of unemployed persons, at 15.4 million, and the unemployment rate, at 10.0 percent, edged down. At the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons was 7.5 million, and the jobless rate was 4.9 percent. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, unemployment rates for adult men (10.5 per-cent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.7 percent), whites (9.3 per-cent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.7 percent) showed little change in November. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.3 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs fell by 463,000 in November. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 293,000 to 5.9 million. The percentage of unemployed persons jobless for 27 weeks or more increased by 2.7 percentage points to 38.3 percent. (See tables A-8 and A-9.)

The civilian labor force participation rate was little changed in November at 65.0 percent. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 58.5 percent.(See table A-1.)

The number of people working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in November at 9.2 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-5.)

About 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in November, an increase of 376,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-13.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 861,000 discouraged workers in November, up from 608,000 a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in November (-11,000). Job losses in the construction, manufacturing, and information industries were offset by job gains in temporary help services and health care. Since the recession began, payroll employment has decreased by 7.2 million. (See table B-1.)

Construction employment declined by 27,000 over the month. Job losses had averaged 117,000 per month during the 6 months ending in April and 63,000 per month from May through October. In November, construction job losses were concentrated among nonresidential specialty trade
contractors (-29,000).

Manufacturing employment fell by 41,000 in November. The average monthly decline for the past 5 months (-46,000) was much lower than the average monthly job loss for the first half of this year (-171,000). About 2.1 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since December 2007; the majority of this decline has occurred in durable goods manufacturing (-1.6 million).

Employment in the information industry fell by 17,000 in November. About half of the job loss occurred in its telecommunications component (-9,000).

There was little change in wholesale and retail trade employment in November. Within retail trade, department stores added 8,000 jobs over the month.

The number of jobs in transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and leisure and hospitality showed little change over the month.

Employment in professional and business services rose by 86,000 in November. Temporary help services accounted for the majority of the increase, adding 52,000 jobs. Since July, temporary help services employment has risen by 117,000.

Health care employment continued to rise in November (21,000), with not able gains in home health care services (7,000) and hospitals (7,000). The health care industry has added 613,000 jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

In November, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.2 hour to 33.2 hours. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.3 hour to 40.4 hours. Factory overtime rose by 0.1 hour to 3.4 hours. Since May, the manufacturing workweek has increased by 1.0 hour. (See table B-2.)

In November, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 1 cent, or 0.1 percent, to $18.74. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.2 percent, while average weekly earnings have risen by 1.6 percent. (See table B-3.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September was revised from -219,000 to -139,000, and the change for October was revised from -190,000 to -111,000.

_____________
The Employment Situation for December is scheduled to be released on Friday, January 8, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).

Bob DeMarco is a citizen journalist and twenty year Wall Street veteran. Bob has written more than 950 articles with more than 8,000 links to his work on the Internet. Content from All American Investor has been syndicated on Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Pluck, Blog Critics, and a growing list of newspaper websites. Bob is actively seeking syndication and writing assignments.

Original content Bob DeMarco, All American Investor

Civilian Unemployment Rate Jumps to 10.2 Percent (Graph)

In October, the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent, the highest rate since April 1983, and nonfarm payroll employment declined by 190,000.

Since the start of the recession, payroll employment has fallen by 7.3 million.

Job losses have averaged 188,000 over the past 3 months.

The employment-population ratio continued to decline in October, falling to 58.5 percent.

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Real Unemployment Jumps to 17.5 Percent (Explanation)

The U-6 (Table A-12: Alternative measures of labor under utilization) measures the real rate of unemployment in the United States.

Most news organizations report the more popular U.S. Department of Labor: Civilian Unemployment Rate. If you read the report today you learned that unemployment is 10.2 percent for September.

If you read Table 12 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics report you learned the real unemployment rate is 17.5 percent, not 10.2 percent.

You would also have noticed the real rate of unemployment is 17.5 percent versus 11.1 percent in September 2008.

To view this report and the numbers go here.

Real Unemployment U-6 -- 17.5%

There are other groups of unemployed that are not counted in the more popular employment report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics U-6 report includes the unemployed, and those that have thrown in the towel.

The U-6 report includes:

• Total unemployed
• plus all marginally attached workers
• plus total employed part time for economic reasons

In other words,

• 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.
• Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not looking currently for a job.

The U-6 report counts everyone that is unemployed--officially and unofficially.
Here are some other statistics that you might find disconcerting.

• About 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in October,
  reflecting an increase of 736,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not sea-
  sonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and
  were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months.
  They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in
  the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
• Among the marginally attached, there were 808,000 discouraged workers in October,
  up from 484,000 a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Dis-
  couraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe
  no jobs are available for them. The other 1.6 million persons marginally attached
  to the labor force in October had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding
  the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.
  
• The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm
  payrolls was unchanged at 33.0 hours in October. The manufacturing workweek rose
  by 0.1 hour to 40.0 hours, and factory overtime increased by 0.2 hour over the
  month.
• The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was
  little changed over the month at 5.6 million. In October, 35.6 percent of
  unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.
• The civilian labor force participation rate was little changed over the month
  at 65.1 percent. The employment-population ratio continued to decline in
  October, falling to 58.5 percent.

All of the statistics in this article were sourced from the Department of Labor--Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Original content by Bob DeMarco, All American Investor

The Unemployment Rate 9.8 Percent, Nonfarm Payroll Employment Continued to Decline

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in September (-263,000), and the unemployment rate (9.8 percent) continued to trend up, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. The largest job losses were in construction,
manufacturing, retail trade, and government.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed
persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million, and the unemployment
rate has doubled to 9.8 percent.

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Household Survey Data

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed
persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million, and the unemployment
rate has doubled to 9.8 percent. (See table A-1.)

Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (10.3 percent),
adult women (7.8 percent), teenagers (25.9 percent), whites (9.0 percent),
blacks (15.4 percent), and Hispanics (12.7 percent)--showed little change
in September. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.4 percent, not season-
ally adjusted. The rates for all major worker groups are much higher than
at the start of the recession. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed
temporary jobs rose by 603,000 to 10.4 million in September. The number of
long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 450,000
to 5.4 million. In September, 35.6 percent of unemployed persons were job-
less for 27 weeks or more. (See tables A-8 and A-9.)

The civilian labor force participation rate declined by 0.3 percentage point
in September to 65.2 percent. The employment-population ratio, at 58.8 per-
cent, also declined over the month and has decreased by 3.9 percentage points
since the recession began in December 2007. (See table A-1.)

In September, the number of persons working part time for economic reasons
(sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed
at 9.2 million. The number of such workers rose sharply throughout most of
the fall and winter but has been little changed since March. (See table A-5.)

About 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in
September, an increase of 615,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not sea-
sonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and
were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12
months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for
work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-13.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 706,000 discouraged workers in
September, up by 239,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally
adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work
because they believe no jobs are available for them. The other 1.5 million
persons marginally attached to the labor force in September had not searched
for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school
attendance or family responsibilities.

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 263,000 in September. From May
through September, job losses averaged 307,000 per month, compared with los-
ses averaging 645,000 per month from November 2008 to April. Since the start
of the recession in December 2007, payroll employment has fallen by 7.2 mil-
lion. (See table B-1.)

In September, construction employment declined by 64,000. Monthly job los-
ses averaged 66,000 from May through September, compared with an average of
117,000 per month from November to April. September job cuts were concen-
trated in the industry's nonresidential components (-39,000) and in heavy
construction (-12,000). Since December 2007, employment in construction has
fallen by 1.5 million.

Employment in manufacturing fell by 51,000 in September. Over the past 3
months, job losses have averaged 53,000 per month, compared with an average
monthly loss of 161,000 from October to June. Employment in manufacturing
has contracted by 2.1 million since the onset of the recession.

In the service-providing sector, the number of jobs in retail trade fell by
39,000 in September. From April through September, retail employment has
fallen by an average of 29,000 per month, compared with an average monthly
loss of 68,000 for the prior 6-month period.

Government employment was down by 53,000 in September, with the largest
decline occurring in the non-education component of local government
(-24,000).

Employment in health care continued to increase in September (19,000), with
the largest gain occurring in ambulatory health care services (15,000).
Health care has added 559,000 jobs since the beginning of the recession,
although the average monthly job gain thus far in 2009 (22,000) is down from
the average monthly gain during 2008 (30,000).

Employment in transportation and warehousing continued to trend down in
September. The number of jobs in financial activities, professional and
business services, leisure and hospitality, and information showed little
or no change over the month.

In September, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers
on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 33.0 hours. Both the
manufacturing workweek and factory overtime decreased by 0.1 hour over the
month, to 39.8 and 2.8 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)

In September, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory
workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 1 cent, or 0.1 percent, to
$18.67. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5
percent, while average weekly earnings have risen by only 0.7 percent due
to declines in the average workweek. (See table B-3.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised from
-276,000 to -304,000, and the change for August was revised from -216,000
to -201,000.





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Civilian Employment Still a Long Way to Go (Chart)

Unlike unemployment, this chart is the number of people employed. So far, we are down about 6,000,000 million jobs. Imagine. A slight up tick this month is a positive.

More than half of the new jobs created are government job and most of those are hires by the census bureau.

With 6 million out of work, the economic numbers going forward might improve -- but they will be weak.

It is likely that the stock market has already discounted the recent mild rebound in the economic news. It is also likely that the market is going to be more vulnerable, now, to any renewed weakness.

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Bob DeMarco is a citizen journalist and twenty year Wall Street veteran. Bob has written more than 500 articles with more than 11,000 links to his work on the Internet. Content from All American Investor has been syndicated on Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Pluck, Blog Critics, and a growing list of newspaper websites. Bob is actively seeking syndication and writing assignments.

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