Unemployment Claims: Continued Claims at Record 6.79 Million !

Another week, another record for continued unemplyment insurance claims!
I do not think this has reached it's peak yet...the financial tsunami is still growing!

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending May 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 623,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 636,000. The 4-week moving average was 626,750, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 629,750.
...
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 16 was 6,788,000, an increase of 110,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,678,000.

Continued claims are now at 6.79 million - an all time record. This is 5.1% of covered employment.

www.calculatedriskblog.com...

News Release
U.S. Department of Labor
Office of Public Affairs
Washington, D.C.
www.workforcesecurity.doleta.gov...

This graph shows weekly claims and continued claims since 1971.

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[edit on 28-5-2009 by burntheships]

But how do we come to the real number of unemployed? How do we include the unemployed who are not receiving benefits? My guesstimation is at least double the reported unemployment compensation claims numbers... What do you think the real number of unemployed is?

reply to post by Hazelnut


Good question! Just a few short weeks ago, it was estimated that actual numbers were at about 15.8%.

This is a great article on the very subject you touched on...

The bureau, which is under the Labor Department, cannot use unemployment compensation records to count the out-of-work, because they are not reliable or up-to-date enough. The bureau also cannot count every out-of-work person.

Instead, as The Ticker reported here in December: "In the case of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department contacts 60,000 households to determine the unemployment picture for the entire workforce, which consists of about 154 million Americans."

voices.washingtonpost.com...

reply to post by burntheships

You're right, it is a great article. Here is another quote from it that might be of interest. It is a perfect example of the White House covering our "backs" so to speak.

By the way, in February, the White House predicted unemployment would top out at 8.1 percent this year, a figure that was blown through the following month.

My husband took a pay decrease and kept his job. For now. My unemployment compensation ran out at the beginning of the year. I can't imagine that I'm a minority in that category.

reply to post by Hazelnut


Hope it gets better for you and yours! I am really understanding that saying " hold on to what you've got!". Now I totally get it!

That sticky issue of the "official" number versus reality really bothers me. My best guess is that it's close to 20%.


But there's also the UNDERemployment factor to think about.

My dad is an engineer with 25 years of experience. He was laid off last year. What's he doing now? He's basically an office manager. More importantly, what's he earning now? About 2/3 less than what he earned as an engineer.

My husband's employer did massive layoffs. Hubby survived the cuts, but many of his buddies didn't. One of his coworkers, a research scientist, is now working as a science tutor, making less than half of what he did.

A friend of ours worked as a loan officer at a credit union. Laid off. Now working as a cashier at CVS. And again, making less than half of what she did.

I know these folks are *very* lucky compared to those without jobs--sadly, we know plenty of them too. But think about it--none of these people are unemployed in any sense of the word. They can put food on the table, but other things are hard. Hubby's former coworker's car was repossessed, and my friend is behind on her mortgage.

And all the money that these folks would have spent on vacations, cars, etc. isn't going into the economy. So now the tourism industry is taking a hit, and car dealers and manufacturers are in big trouble. That's more jobs that are going to disappear. Heck, even a large pepperoni from Luigi's pizzeria is out of the question for these folks. So now Luigi's pizzeria has lost the business of both the unemployed and the underemployed and it's forced to close. That's 10 more people without jobs. It's a vicious cycle, and I just don't see a way to stop it. I miss Luigi's pizza too.

So what do you think the rate of unemployment PLUS underemployment is? I'm betting 30-35%

Unemployed people should go into govt service. With the current policies in place it will be the only "enterprise" to continue to grow and hire (aka elect) individuals. The public sector is being systematically dismantled.

reply to post by sweetpeanc


Very similar stories on my end as well, family members, friends, business associates. In the town I live in, business closures are everywhere, on every street, every corner. I have never seen anything like this before!

Sure we can all make cuts, but how long can this go on? Maybe I should be asking when will it be over?


reply to post by jjkenobi


Granted even a limited government would need some man power. Scary part is your last sentence. The private sector is being dismantled, and I am afarid of what is going to be put in its place.




[edit on 28-5-2009 by burntheships]