Jobs Report: Still Treading Water
http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2010/03/05/jobs-report-still-treading-water/
BY MITCHELL HIRSCH, MAIN STREET BLOG
MARCH 5, 2010 4:06 PM
Here’s the shorter official jobs report for February: not much change in an abysmal situation.
The official unemployment rate remained at 9.7%.
Employers surveyed reported a net loss of another 36,000 jobs last month, a number in line with the 34,000 increase in the number of unemployed in the household survey. While the rate of job losses the last several months has been moderate relative to the massive losses earlier in the recession, we are still losing jobs.
After spending much of the morning watching the talking heads and business pundits on news channels talk endlessly about the numbers and what impact they might have on “the markets”, it’s pretty clear that most of them have forgotten that the statistics are, in fact, real people.
And right now there are nearly 16 million Americans officially unemployed, according to the latest household survey’s Table A-12 (not seasonally adjusted). Of those out of work, the average duration of unemployment rose in February to 29.3 weeks, with nearly 6.3 million unemployed for 6 months or more.
Official unemployment totals do not include those considered “not in the labor force“, such as the 2.5 million jobless who had not looked for work in the 4 weeks prior. Of those, the 1.2 million considered “discouraged” workers was up by 139,000 — the fifth consecutive monthly increase.
The number of people wanting full-time work but only working part-time (Table A-8) increased from 8.3 to 8.8 million (seasonally adjusted), and remained at 9.3 million (not seasonally adjusted).
The official unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, was 10.4% as reported in the lesser-known Table A-15 Alternative measures of labor underutilization. More than 26 million Americans remain unemployed or underemployed, nearly 18% of the workforce.
Employers reported job losses for the month in most industries, with job growth limited to temporary help services, education and health services. Government was not exempt from the job declines, with public employment down by 18,000 jobs, despite the 15,000 newly hired for the 2010 census. Facing huge budget shortfalls due to declines in revenues resulting from the recession, many state and local governments continue to lay off workers. And the depression in the construction sector continues with the loss of another 64,000 jobs. It’s now been three years of consecutive monthly job losses in construction.
Unemployment among African-Americans remains staggeringly high. Not seasonally adjusted, the official unemployment rate for black men 20 years and over is 19.1%, 11.8% for black women 20 years and over, and a catastrophic 41.4% for African-American teenagers 16 to 19 years old.
The one real bright spot in today’s jobs report was the increase of 308,000 people reportedly employed in the household survey. Whether that translates into a positive trend, or represents a temporary weather-related boost is still to be seen.
All of the above, nevertheless, adds up to a continuing national tragedy — one that will not be adequately addressed by the far-too-modest jobs plans being considered in Congress. If Congress insists on taking a piecemeal approach to finally tackling the jobs crisis, then it needs a legislative agenda that contains the right pieces. The recession that caused this crisis is unlike any other post-war recession.
That’s why we need a response capable of providing the jolt to forge a recovery powered by millions of good new jobs. The American Jobs Plan, the basis of the five-point plan supported by the AFL-CIO and the Jobs for America Now coalition — provides the practical solutions America so desperately needs right now.
Copyright – Working America
